Walkers: Third Choice
by Exiled44
Summary: set in AU modern-day AC sections. For most people there are two choices in every situation, never a third. Ben Valin and his newly discovered godfather, Will, must now help stop the solar flare from destryoing Earth. Learning of his heritage using an Animus, Ben must now use what he knows and experiences to change fate in an unorthodox decision. colab w/ GD12
1. Prologue: What have you done?

Walkers: Third Choice

_(Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed or Bionicle. They belong to their respective owners. I do however own Ben and any and all OCs. Also, Will belongs to GD12.)_

Prologue

I jumped over the chain-link fence. The sign outside said that the place was Cape Canaveral... the place where the famous Apollo 11 mission launched from here in 1969. What a famous day that was three days later as well as on the day that it launched. Now, another event in human history was happening.

Something terrible was coming. And things were going to get hot unless something big happened. So, I let it happen... but I added something of my own towards it. At first, the others would hate me for it. But, they might see. I regret doing it, truly. But hey, in order to defeat your enemy, you have to know how they tick. Stupid Templars. Behind me, I could hear the sound of footsteps behind me. _Shit!_

I sprinted faster, running over a guard wearing dark-colored clothing. His bill-peaked cap had the symbol of Abstergo Industries, a front for the Templars. I ran right over him before he could shout, aim his MP5, and shoot. "Sorry," I muttered. But I also thought 'Dumbass'. From what I learned, Abstergo bought the place a year back and used it for 'commercial purposes and for the benefit of mankind'. Now, they were going to launch something important. And I wanted to get there to see somthing. Who knows? I might even get a front row seat.

Of course, the downside is just behind me and he's angry as hell. I would have had time to explain my reasons to him and them... all of them.. but I don't think they wanted to hear it. Still, I made sure they got a little something. No worries it's not going to harm them... at least, not the people that I know. But it will drive a few people crazy.

_"Ben! Stop! Damn it, kid!" _A voice called out from behind me.

In the distance, I could see the rocket. It was carrying a satelite that was also carrying a secret cargo... one in which I gave Abstergo something. At least it would work well if I had it right. If not... well, can't worry about that right now. As they say 'No plan ever survives contact with the enemy'. And that enemy was the sun. If I played my cards right... it might just work. But I would have to check.

_"Attention! Attention! We have intruders! All Security Personnel please apprehend the fugitives! They are heading for the launch pad!"_ The PA system said.

I grinned. Of course we are, genius! I stopped briefly when I encountered a squad of guards armed with batons at the inner gate towards the pad. I drew my swords with a sigh.

"Seriously? How much do they pay you to fight with batons?" I asked. In a blur, I chopped off their batons and then slammed them all into a dumpster by the side of the gate. I then hopped the fence. The pad was so close that I was just five hundred yards away from it. That was, until I felt someone tackle me.

_"DAMN IT BOY!" _He yelled. I saw him in his hooded attire. He looked a bit older than me... Maybe around his early thirties late twenties. He had a robotic prosthetic arm with a hidden blade and he looked like Leon S. Kennedy from _Resident Evil_. He slammed me into the wall while holding the collar of my shirt.

XXX

(Will's POV)

_"Do you know what the hell you just did?!"_ I said, my prosthetic hand gripping the collar of the teen's shirt tightly, my other hand was up, hidden blade engaged. "I've been given orders by The Mentor, and he told me I had to do whatever it took, and to spare you if I could, but if you persisted, and did not come quietly, then it left me with no options."  
_"Will…please…I can explain!"_ Ben said, in between gasps of air.  
_"You better explain yourself!"_ I said. My grip on the boy's collar eased.  
The sound of boots hitting the floor could be heard. I, still holding onto the boy's collar, spun around, mechanical crossbow drawn, fired several electrical arcs at the oncoming abstergo guards, they all fell to the ground, dead. I let go of the boy, seeing more of them coming at us. I quickly unraveled a rope dart, and the blade of the robe impaled through the neck of a guard, I pulled the dying guard up to him, using him as a human shield, the guards had fired their guns, hitting the guard. I charged forward, hidden blade's active, I killed each guard with the blades, brutally, one guard I countered their batons and stabbed him in the eyes, the guard cried out in agony, I pulled the blades out, and chained a kill by impaling hi blades into another guard's head. After four more kills, my sleeves were blood soaked.  
_"Will! BEHIND YOU!"_ I spun around, but it was to late, a metal beam had been thrown at me and I had no time to react, the beam slammed into my head, and sent me flying off the platform. Before I lost conscious, I felt Ben's hand grab my own, saving me from the fall.

XXX

(Ben's POV)

I pulled Will up towards me. Damn it, he didn't understand. The Mentor didn't understand as well. They didn't even know about what I truly did! If they had looked closer... bah! I can't worry about that right now. I draped him over my shoulder as I looked at the guards that surrounded us. I grinned mischievously as I looked at the rocket. I pointed my left arm at it.

_'PAAIA : Scan the rocket! Make sure it's active; if not, make sure it activates at the proper time!'_

A holo-screen popped up on my gauntlet. It read in green words:_ Object Active_. I smiled. It would work... of that I was sure.

I looked at the guards as they surrounded my unconcious friend and I with weapons and batons. One of the men stood in front, wearing a business suit. He wore a protective vest and looked sharp with neat jet black hair and blue eyes. He had a ring on his finger, bearing a symbol of the Templar Order.

"Ahh... Mr. Valin. I see you have paid us an untimely visit." He said, looking at Will. I looked at him.

"I am surprised that you came here with your... friend after you. I thought that our business was done once you gave us the Apple? Perhaps you had a change of heart?"

"I kept my heart the whole way. I came here to get a front row seat of my success. As well as to see if all went according to plan." The man smiled.

"And what plan would that be: Ours?" He said. Something about him made me want to hurl and kick his ass. Instead, I swallowed the feeling and smiled back.

_"No, my own."_ I said. He frowned and tilted my head.

"Please explain," I smirked.

"All in due time. Let's just say: Humanity will be saved, but there's just going to be a change." I said.

"That old belief in a third choice?" He asked, smirking. I shrugged, smirking back.

"Hey, you boys got me involved in the first place. Now, it's my turn to _fuck with you all_." The man gritted his teeth.

"I do not care what you did or whatever reason you came here. Our plan will succeed. Humanity will be brought to order and the _Assassins will die_!"

"Are you sure about that?" I asked as the countdown began.

"Nevertheless: Get a security escort and put them in a cellblock! We'll deal with them tommorrow morning once the New World Order has dawned!" the man, Charles Nevins, one of the highest-ranking Templars, barked.

"You Templars and your schemes!" I laughed as I dropped my weapons. I kept my gauntlets while Will's weapons were confiscated. We were then put in a cell underground when the countdown reached zero. I felt the ground tremble as the rocket's engines activated. The force of the thrust made the walls shake in our cell. At least it was clean.

I looked up at the security camera in our cell. I love being the one that makes a good plan. I'm tired of all the damn villains scheming. Now, it's _my_ turn to mess my enemies up. True, it's better to be the victim, but I prefer to humiliate my enemies first. Not only that, but if I played it all right... then their so-called 'New World' isn't going to be dawning. Ohh no, there will be a new world, just one that's had a change of plans. Plus I guess I would have saved someone from suffering a terrible fate and freeing a criminal that shouldn't be free in the first place. Never mess with a Walker.

Will was on the opposite cot. I got up and filled a cup that we had in this small cell. There was a guard outside our cell, looking at us boastfully. I looked back at him and walked over to the bars.

"What are you going to boast over?"

"You Assassins are going to be dead, boy. Just you wait. You are going to wish you joined us." I grinned.

"Someday... there will be a turnover of events. And you will wish the opposite... dude." I said. The man then butted his rifle at my face, making me spill the cup meant for Will. Asshole.

I rubbed my face. I then refilled the cup. I heard Will jolt up and look around. He swore as he looked at me. I raised a cup at him, smiling. I hadn't explained it to him yet.

"Water?" I asked. He growled and walked up to me. He slapped the cup out of my hand. I should have made him a cup of coffee this morning. He then grabbed my throat and slammed me into the wall... again.

_"BEN! YOU IDIOT! First, you give the Apple to the Templars, now you've gotten us captured! You better explain it to me before we die or when we die, I will haunt your ass myself!"_ Will said.

I glared at him and grabbed his arm. I shouted in Na'vi. Guard wouldn't give a shit what we spoke.

**"Damn it, Uncle Will! I came here to check on something! Had I been given more time to explain, then you would have known and wanted to get a front row seat too!"** I said, pointing out the door.

**"Front-row seat?!" **Willasked, confused. He gritted his teeth. He tightened his grip.

**"To what?! The destruction of the human race or the success of the Templars?!" **

**"Neither!" **I answered, honestly. I couldn't help but grin. **"Besides, what they think they know... is all wrong anyway. When this is over, they're going to wish they had stayed the hell away from the First Civilization and never heard of it." **I said**. **Will let go of my throat.

**"What the hell did you do?" **He asked. I grinned.

**"Remember our talks about the third choice?" **I asked. Will scoffed.

**"Ben, there were only two choices, you know that! No one can-" **He stopped as he let the words I had said earlier sink in.

**"Ben... tell me what you did... all of it." **He said. I nodded. I grabbed the cup and refilled it. He sat down next to me.

**"Wait a minute, gotta' send somethhing on the 'net." **I said, going for my right gauntlet. I activated a screen and then began typing.

"I doubt any of your friends are going to come for you!" The guard said watching. I smiled and turned to him. These idiots had no idea... Templars and their schemes. At least I made the third choice.

"It ain't for me, dumbass!" I taunted back.

_'Object active. Wait for it!' _I typed and then sent it.

**"You can send that shit down here?! Why aren't you?!"** Will said, surprised. I looked at him, sighing.

**"Relax, Uncle! It's all in the proper time. Let me explain it all to you... from how it started. Remember when I first came here all those months ago, Uncle?"** I asked. Uncle Will sighed.

**"Yeah, I remember." **Will said.

**"It all started after my shtick with the **Toa**... and home." **I said.


	2. Capture

Chapter 1

One question that I guess you're asking is: How did all that happen? Well, it began a few months ago after I was transported here from my house just after my three-week long stay in Metru Nui. For some reason, I was in Rome, Italy. Except, I don't think it was my Rome.

I walked past a newstand that held a local newspaper. The date was freaking weird: August 1, 2012. I was two years into the future on what may be an alternate Earth. But why Rome? Why now?

I received some weird looks as I walked the streets. One man looked at me strangely. I looked at him and spoke in Italian.

"Familia heirlooms. Pawnshops won't even let me sell them." I said. The man nodded, falling for my ploy. I mean, how easy is it to hide twin steel-silver katanas that had swirling blue tattooes and a pair of gauntlets that were bulky with white orbs in the middle? Not only that, but I was wearing clothes that were not washed in three weeks! My jeans had a hole on my butt and I felt that there was some kind of mark on my chest. I sighed, looking up at the sunny sky. It was blue with almost no clouds. Not only that, but it was warm. I thought the Mediterranean nation's location to the equator would make it hot as hell. Then again, there is always global warming.

I wonder what's going on that would have me here? I mean look at me: I haven't been to Italy, my Italy, for a few years since my Uncle David's 'Dragon of the West' Championship. If I recall, I had an opponent who lived in Sicily. We had dinner at his house. His mother made some great pasta and marinara. Now: where do I find someplace to eat?

I sighed as I saw a cafe across the street. I then realized something as I walked across the street: I had no effing money!

"Bullshit," I muttered, reaching into my pockets. I felt something. I looked at it.

"Now that is just a bunch of bullshit!" I muttered. I had just a wrinkly dollar and fifty cents! What was I going to buy with this crap?! They use euros over here not effing dollars! I sighed I went up to the counter as I went inside. The line wasn't that long. One of the men scanned me as I went up to him.

_"Si?"_ He said.

_"Can I please have a..."_ I looked down at my money.

_"How much would this get me, sir?"_ I asked. The man rubbed his beard and looked at the menu.

_"I don't know. That is American money, right?"_I nodded. He sighed.

_"I am guessing you yourself an American?"_ He took a whiff and then winced. _"There is a currency exchange at the airport near here... go over there."_ In other words: 'we don't take US currency and take a bath, you hippie'. I nodded. Now that I look back on it, there were people giving me looks and throwing their noses up in the air. Jeez, I don't smell that bad do I?

I took a whiff. My sense of smell isn't fully developed yet; so I have no idea what I smell like. I am guessing it's that bad.

I had to ask directions from a nearby police officer to get to the frigging airport, followed by about two hour's worth of walking. Dear gosh, how I wish that I could drive or free run. Except I have no clue how to free run. As I walked over to the airport, I realized something: I can't hide my weapons. If I hide them, then they might get stolen or lost! Darnnit. Lunch is out of the question.

I sighed and decided to do a bit of intelligence work, find out what crisises there were. And that means: looking up on the Internet or reading a newspaper or magazine. I went over to a newstand and gave the guy there my fifty cents and dollar. I took a copy of the newspaper and went over to a bench.

"Now, what's up for today?" I asked aloud. I noticed that people were staring at my katanas. I looked over at an old man next to me.

"Familia heirloom." I explained. The man nodded, understanding.

"Pawnshops won't take 'em because it's so expensive!" I joked. That was a weak one, however.

My Italian's a bit good, but I'm not perfect. Let's see: there's a War on Terror here, a scandal in high places, plus other things. The Stock Market's in the crapper(bad news for my investment plans) and Abstergo Industries is announcing a new drug that's helping with anxiety disorders... wait...

I read back at the article. Abstergo Industries was the name of a company that was a front for a secret society called the Knights Templars (Of course, it's all based on conspiracy theories) in the series 'Assassin's Creed. And since this was 2012.. my gosh. I sighed, irritably. Why am I often in the middle of a damn mess?!

"Excuse me, sir." A man said in English. I turned to my right to see a tall man wearing a black uniform. He looked somewhat militaristic or maybe even a police officer. He didn't look Italian, more like a standard Caucasian.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'm from the US embassy. I'm afraid we've received word of a security threat against Americans in this country. I've been asked to escort you to the embassy." He said. At first, I wanted to believe him. Then, I realized that he wasn't either a SEAL or a Marine. Marines and SEALS don't wear black in broad daylight in public... Abstergo. Should've found something to hide my shit in the first place.

"Alright," I said. I would trick this bastard since he was tricking me. So, I followed him into an alleyway with him in front of me. I pulled my hood up.

"What's your rank, Marine?" I asked. The man paused before saying 'Private'. I noticed his hand go to his holster.

"By the way, if you're a Marine... where's your khaki uniform?" I asked.

"At the cleaners. Got one hell of a spill yesterday on it." The guy replied in a rough accent. He then spun around. Too late, for I beat him to it. I unsheathed my katana and sliced his arm off. Before he could scream, I kicked him in the stomach and then covered his mouth as I slammed him into the wall. If you fucking scream, I will gut you like a fish, Templar." I said. His right hand hung loosely. I uncovered it, pointing a katana at his stomach.

"How the hell did you people spot me?" I asked. The Templar replied through gritted teeth.

"Not so easy to hide when an Assassin suddenly appears right in front of the goddamn facility." I froze. Wait... I appeared in front of an Abstergo building?!  
"You followed me all the way around the fucking city?!" I muttered.

"It's quite obvious you're out of place, Assassin. Let me live and we might treat you fairly, kid."

"Well, newsflash pal: _I'm no Assassin_!" I said. I punched him in the face as hard as I could, hearing his nose break. He fell back, unconcious. I heard a radio transmission:

_"Six-thirteen, six-thirteen, did you get 'im?"_ Aw, to hell with it! I grabbed the radio and had it switched to transmit:

_"Yippie Kay Yay Mamacitas!"_ I yelled. I dropped the radio and began sprinting out the alleyway and into the street. I ran as fast as I could. I ran past a yelling police officer, my training as a Martial Artist taking over as well as advice from Uncle David.

_'Ben, if you're ever being chased: Run like Hell and don't ever look back. Learn to think on your feet and use the environment around you to use against your pursuers.' _

I almost stopped when a black SUV came and there were black uniformed men with caps that bore the silver insignia of Abstergo.

"SHIT!" I yelled. I then began turning towards an alleyway. At the other end was a bunch of guards at the other end. Well, shit. I unsheathed my other Katana and began charging at full speed. Did I mention that I'm an Interdimensional alien-human hybrid? I kicked Teridax's heavy ass into a lot more than fifty feet back. And if I still had my Toa powers these guys would be frozen stiff or burning. Or I could just jump over them.

I slid as one struck, dodging his attack, I swept his legs underneath and began fighting.

"They don't pay you enough, do they?" I asked as I went through them all. I severed limbs, slashed chests and stomachs, even stabbed them when they were behind me. My blades went through their pitiful kevlar and batons. When I was done, my blades were dripping blood and I felt... at first nothing. Then, I began to feel sorry for what I had just done. I shook my head and realized I couldn't stay for long. I then sheathed my blades and began running as soon as I heard the sirens.

And as soon as I reached the nearby intersection up ahead from where I had just massacred several guards, I felt a sharp pain on my ass. That had happened once before and it got me my powers.

"NOT AGAIN!" I screamed. I began to feel woozy. I then started to become dizzy and I was drifting to one side or the other as I ran. I slowed my pace and went into an alleyway. I walked towards a dumpster as I began to lose conciousness. I opened the hood of it and was about to climb in when I felt something hit my skull and my back. I swung back with my arm, hitting something and hearing a crash into a trash can. There were swears and some sort of dim pain as I fell down. I looked up to see a group of Abstergo guards hitting me with batons. They stopped as soon as I lost conciousness and as one of them was talking on his cellphone.

XXX

The phone rang in his pocket. He brought it out as he looked out across the view.

"Yes?" He asked.

_"We've got the Assassin. Where should we put him after we bring him in?"_

"Put him in my office... on the Animus, if you will, please." The old, bearded man said.

_"Roger that, Dr. Vidic."_

"And see if you can relieve the Assassin of his weapons.. and those gauntlets. Those don't like anything of human make. I suspect they could be an unknown form of Pieces of Eden. Make sure that you get those too. I don't care how you do it. Just get it done! We've already lost Mr. Miles. So we need to make sure that there's an extra patrol of guards on all levels." He said. He turned off the cell phone and turned his chair towards the slab lying in front of his desk no more than several yards away.

How strange and convenient it was when he was going out for a cup of local coffee that he spotted the Assassin coming out of an alleyway wearing those strange twin swords and gauntlets. He had appeared to be a promising replacement for Mr. Miles. And if he played his cards right, the Assassin might even lead him to more Pieces of Eden. The plan was starting to come into fruition so long as she kept it all covert. It had been so easy to get her to the Templar cause and away from those fanatics.

Warren Vidic smiled. After all, victory must come at any price, he mused. Who knows what secrets the boy might contain in his ancestors?

XXX

Cralt's POV)

I had been watched what happened under disguise. My face paled as I glimpsed a group of black-clad men carrying Ben's body in the alleyway towards a newly arrived black SUV. I turned down towards the street, thinking of what would happen and what should be done. The Council would know about what had happened, but rescue measures were up to the families themselves. And for me, Ben was family. He was my nephew for God's sake! But, a Travel Master cannot intervene in a Journeyman's Journey directly, only a family member can. However, he can turn to various relatives for assistance, place hidden messages and point the Journeyman and his/her allies towards secret safehouses. And one of those family members immediately popped into my head.

Ben was in a reality of Assassins and Templars and his knowledge still couldn't save his ass from getting picked up by those brutish simpletons! However, Ben's father- Jeremy- met and made friends with an Assassin as I recall. His name was truthfully Jasper Williams but he preferred Will; one of the best 22nd century Assassins. He was also one of Ben's many god-parents. But, he had a family of his own, as I recall. Not only that but there was that nasty business with an Autoborg weapon a while back. But still... you can't turn your back on family, can't you?

Immediately, I went into a separate alleyway and shapeshifted myself. I then opened a portal crystal to Will's reality. Hopefully, he would understand the intrusion into his daily life. And not kill me!


	3. Escape

(Cralt's POV)

It had taken several hours of traveling, but I had discovered the tent belonging to Will and his family. I had met with a Na'vi who had traded with Will in Omaticaya territory on Pandora. The kind fellow pointed me in the right direction. Hopefully, Will would be kind enough. I had planned on his briefing and steeled myself for a possible fight. I also thought about how he would feel as that of his family. To his wife and child, Ben would most likely never have been heard of... maybe even a stranger they had never met. But to Will... he had taken the bloody oath, for God's sake! He had a duty, as Ben's Toa counterparts would put it.

I took a swig of my canteen and walked forward, pulling my cloak close around me and drawing my hood. I saw the tent in the distance. The smell of cooked meat filled the air as I walked towards it. The tent was of... moderately Na'vi size for nomadic construction. It must be a pain to pack up and unpack it though. Some of us Walkers used to live in those things, others use hotels or abandoned buildings for dwellings. Others have the luxury of hideouts.

As I approached, I saw someone, a Na'vi male, look out from the 'door' and go back inside. I heard voices and a 'hush'. Then, I saw a tall Na'vi male walk outside. He had a robotic prosthetic arm from an injury years ago. He looked around his thirties. He also had human features on his face, rather than the feline appearance.

"Who are you?" He asked looking down. I took another swig of my canteen. It was water, not liquor mind you! I pulled back my hood.

"Jasper Williams, also known as Will?" I asked. The man nodded, and crossed his arms.

"Yes, who are you? What are you doing near my family?" Will asked. I sighed.

"My name is Cralt Valin. I am a brother, half-brother, to someone you met a while ago... Jeremy Valin?" The man froze.

XXX  
(Will's POV)

"So…you're related to Jeremy…" I said calmly. It was hard to believe Cralt was related to the man who assisted me in my covert operations after the Battle of The Tree of Souls thirteen years ago.  
Cralt nodded. "Yes…Like I said, he's my half-brother."  
"Explains a lot. Now I would like to ask again, why are you here?" I asked.  
"You do remember Jeremy has a son, Ben." He said. I nodded.  
"I remember, Karen, my sister in law,who helped deliver him, and I were present." I said. "Did something happen to him?"  
He was silent. "Are you aware of the Shadow Company named "Abstergo."  
"Of course I am, that company almost caused the annihilation of the Brotherhood." I said, remembering my history.  
"Ben traveled to your world and ended up on Earth in the year of 2012." He said. "Approximately the same time your Mentor's Ancestor, Desmond Miles, opened the door to the Central Vault."  
"October thirty first…" I muttered.  
"Correct." He said.  
"But what does this have to do with Ben?" I asked. "What does Abstergo have any play in it?"  
"Ben ended up in Rome…" Cralt said, but I interrupted him. "But he was captured by an Abstergo agent and was taken to the lineage and discovery unit, ran by the Templar's primary leader, Vidic."  
"How did you know?" He asked me.  
"We lost a lot of brothers to the Roman branch of the Templar Order, it was also where Desmond Miles was held captive for seven days." I said.  
He nodded.  
"You want me to save him? Don't you?" I asked.  
Cralt nodded.  
I paused, I could feel Ti'nera, Taka and Haruko's eyes on me. I know Ti'nera and Haruko understood the conversation, but Taka knew very little English…it made sense if he was confused. I looked up at Cralt.  
"I'm going to talk to Alex White, the current Mentor, tell him the issues that is happening, and I'll go with you." I said. "I would like to leave right now, but Alex needs to know as well. I am one of his lieutenants."  
"I understand." Cralt said.

…..

"So…you're telling me you think there is more to Ben's capture that concerns you? Aside from him being your godson." Alex said, he sat in his chair, his hood down. We were alone in his office at Hells Gate, in human form, the technicians were working at their posts, communicating with the Earth Assassin teams and our allies on Pandora.  
I nodded. "I think so…Cralt didn't say if this was an alternate past, or if the past Ben is in is our world's past…but something tells me that if the events of that world were changed dramatically…"  
"Then Juno's plan would be effected as well, most likely in a positive for her." Alex said. I nodded. Alex thought for a moment. Slowly Alex reached into his pocket, and pulled out a gold sliver, and handed it to me. I looked at it, it glowed briefly in my palm. I looked at him.  
"You're giving me a shard of Eden?" I asked.  
"It should help find any pieces of Eden that could give Abstergo an upper hand…plus, provide some protection from gunfire." Alex said. He trusted me and Emily so much that he would give us a shard of Eden, one of the seven pieces remaining from the Apple of Eden after it's destruction.  
I nodded. "I'll keep it safe Alex."  
Alex nodded. "Remember, even if things go well for the Order back then, we may not know how it will turn out…if some how Juno was freed…then we have problems. Remember, nine years ago it took a lot of the Assassin and Autoborg artillery to weaken Juno…and she was still moving."  
"I know…if she were to be freed…even if he release was stalled…she would adapt." I said. Alex nodded.  
We stood up, he and I shook hands.  
"Careful out there Will." He said. I nodded.  
"Thanks…make sure Ti'nera and Taka are alright while I'm gone." I said. He nodded.  
"Of course."  
With that, I left the office and Hells Gate. To rejoin with Cralt.

(Ben's POV)

Ow... Ow... OW!  
"Dammit!" I yelled. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. I felt my head hit something that was solid and.. glass? I opened my eyes to see something right over my head. It had the Abstergo logo on it. At first, I was confused. Then, I realized where I was when I felt something hard and flat that I was laying on. I turned my head head to the left to see a desk a few yards away.

"Well... shit." I muttered.

"Well... that was well restrained. The last test subject had a more violent outburst, but still used bad language." A familiar voice said. I'll use bad language allright, when my metallic-coated foot gets up your ass and you go all the way to freaking San Francisco.

I turned to the right. Speak of the damn devil: Warren Vidic right next to me. The game doesn't do him justice at all. He's got more wrinkles than you know and he has thinning hair. But he still has a bushy gray-brown beard.

"On the record: Why the hell did you people come after me? I just got here no more than two hours with nothing but family heirlooms, now I'm suddenly 'Abstergo's Most Wanted'?" I asked aloud.

Warren chuckled.

"Well, that is what happens when you happen to be at the wrong place at the right time. You would make a fine replacement for Mr. Miles.. that is if you have the right genetic code." Vidic retorted.

"That was rhetorical... sir." I said, trying to be a bit respectful, even if I was captured by an immoral asshole. Vidic walked around and went to a console by the side of the Animus.

"Nevertheless, I'm intrigued as to who you are or why you're in Rome... or Italy for that matter."

"Really?" I thought that since my Dad was a Walker, they would have thought he came back or something. But, it looks like they don't have a clue.

"That's the truth," He said bitterly. "As I hate to admit it."  
I shook my head.  
I then realized something. I still had my gauntlets... but where the hell are my katanas?

"Thought you guys would take my gauntlets." I commented.

"Oh trust me, we tried. But they wouldn't budge. We tried using a saw-several saws in fact, but each time, those gauntlets would extend and not even the paint was scratched. As for your swords they have been... confiscated for the... 'duration' of your stay." Vidic replied. Well, thanks Pop for the gauntlets.

"Yeah, well. I hate to break it to you Vidic. You're going to want to release me. Otherwise, you might not like the consequences." I said.

"Is that right?" Vidic asked, amused.

"Yeah... I've met people... older than you, taller, stronger... Hell, I kicked one that was twice your size into the side of a cliff. Too bad I need to wait awhile."

"It's not like you're going anywhere," Vidic said, chuckling. I kept a straight face. If he saw whatever I saw on this thing... how do you resist this kind of thing? Should I let it flow or what? No matter, I bet Vidic's going to take one look at my ancestor's memories and wonder: 'What the hell is this shit?'. I cracked and then felt something in the back of my head as Vidic worked the console. And then, I blacked out.

XXX

(Cralt's POV)

Will and I were inside a warehouse after I opened a portal to this dimension. Will sat on a crate. Sometimes inter-dimensional travel can make you feel uneasy. Not only that, but he would have to readjust his internal clock.

"Alright, where are we?" Will asked. I nodded. I raised my right hand. My gauntlet had a built in holoprojector with a neural interface.

"We're in Rome, Italy at a warehouse. Ben's in the Abstergo facility here... where Desmond Miles was..." I then looked at the date.

"I apologize. It's actually September 13, 2012."

"You're kidding me." Will said, dead-panning.

"Hey, my memory isn't all that great. Even Walkers make mistakes." I told him. He sighed.  
I received an alert. I widened my eyes.

"Ohh... Shit!" I muttered.

"What?" Will asked, jerking his head up.

"Ben's suit is reporting something. Looks like Ben's on an animus... the original Animus, if I'm right." I told him. Will stood up.

"Oh shit!" Will breathed. I knew what he was thinking.

"Let's not get into overdrive just yet, Will. Jeremy's gauntlets are low on power- happens every fifteen generations. It's a real pain in the ass, I know it personally. On one side: Ben's going to have memories of his ancestors being seen and our... 'subtle' policy is thrown out the window. On the other hand, his suit's going to be running off of the Animus's juice within five hours. Thank Heavens for PAAIA." I said, looking at the incoming data.

"PAAIA?" Will asked.

"Personal Armor Artificial Intelligence Assistant," I replied.

"Animus is starting up. We need to make a plan for this." I added.

"We can't cover all the exits. Back then, our numbers were low... real low." Will said. I nodded. I remembered my history.

"True." I said. We wouldn't need the other Assassins. I am of House Valin, and Valins are masters of elemental manipulation. Lucky me: one of my three elements is Earth-bending.

XXX

(Ben's POV)

_Genetic Memory Archives Accessed. Subject 18 Now Online... _

_Processing...  
_

_Processing...  
_

_Warning: No compatible Genetic sequences detected.  
_

_Investigating Genetic Memory..  
_

_Partial human genetic sequence detected..  
_

_Date: Unknown  
_

_Location:Unknown  
_

_Name: Ishigurama Confucius Okagaru-Valin  
_

_The room was dimly lit. He preferred it that way though it would harm his eyes in time if left uncared for. In one corner of the room was a metallic bookshelf. It held ancient scrolls and books containing knowledge and stories. Despite the advances of technology that held such things, he preferred the touch and feel of the old things. It had guided his people on the pathway to knowledge and wisdom._

_There was also a bed behind him as he worked at his desk, reading a textbook that bore alien text. On the wall hung several holographic images that almost seemed to move. They were of relatives and friends, most of whom were either dead or missing due to the Long War. Next to his desk was a floating object that twirled around. It was carved, almost. It had glowing seams and a somewhat mystical aspect to it._

_The lamp over his head was without supports as he read the knowledge of far-off places and histories. Its greenish-haze helped him comprehend its knowledge. _

'And so it was that the survivors of the Tython Civil War became the founding members of what would be known as: the Jedi Order. Little did they know that the legacy of the Bogart, though seemingly unconnected, would be seen again for tens of millennia afterwards-forever threatening the Jedi time and time again. However the Jedi would endure and persevere through the ages, triumphing over the Sith each time.'

_The book was closed. In the light, his hands were five fingered but not like a human's. His head was oddly shaped with a bulbous shape that was almost sharp-like in the back. He had four eyes and sharp teeth that were pointed diagnally. He had a straight red line down his lips and four nostrils for his nose. He was five-foot six in human height. His skin was dark gray. He wore a green robe that fit tightly to his fit form._

_There was a knock on the door._

_"Come in!" He said, looking at it. He sounded almost African with a Japanese tint. His voice was also resonant._  
_The door opened, revealing a taller male. He bore scars on his gray-blue face. He looked fierce in his red archaic armor. His head was much bigger towards the rear and he towered over the boy._

_"Just wanted to drop by, Ishigurama." The man said._

_"The name is 'Ishi', Uncle Javik. I told you countless times! It is just plain 'Ishi'"_

_"For some reason, it makes me think of the childish term 'fishy'." Javik grinned, chuckling. Ishi almost rolled his four eyes. He could sense false humor and a bit of grim seriousness in Javik's essence. Decades of fighting the Reapers had robbed him of many friends, his family, comrades and more. Javik stopped smiling and sighed._

_"So, how is the Project going?" Ishi asked._

_"The bunker's construction is eighty-five percent complete. We may be able to build more should we be able to halt the Reapers further."_

_"I can not believe that we still haven't found a way to fully destroy them." Ishi said, thinking about what he had read in his history books. A while ago, there had been another Project. This device had been built through the ages upon each cycle of destruction, it's design had been improved. However, it was taking too long to build and they had not enough time to complete it.  
_

_"Some one else will... in time. But for now, we need to focus on the survival of the Empire- and I do not need any more deaths in my family." Javik said.  
Ishi sighed as two of his right eyes went to a holographic image of a female alien that looked somewhat like the boy.  
_

_'Mother..'  
_

_"Yeah... I'd guess Mother would want it too." Ishi said, sadly.  
They stood in silence.  
Javik's first left eye noticed the tome.  
_

_"What is that? Is that... a tome?" Javik asked, peering over the boy with two raised eyebrows.  
_

_Ishi became pale.  
_

_"Uhh..." His essence became that of guilt and worry.  
_

_"It's one of those strange books again, isn't it?" Javik asked, looking back at him. Ishi paused then nodded.  
_

_"Yes, Uncle." Ishi whispered, sadly. Javik sighed. He walked past Ishi and looked at it.  
_

_He looked at the alien text and put his hand on it. Through the abilities of his race, the alien 'read' the title and the summary of the information it contained.  
_

_"A History of the Force" He said. Javik looked at Ishi.  
_

_"This is getting strange... more than so. First that one book about 'Marines' and now magic-wielding warriors running around?" Javik sighed.  
_

_"They just... appear in my bedroom, Uncle! I swear." Javik looked at it and back at his nephew in anger.  
_

_"Someone keeps giving you stories about places that don't exist! I don't know who it is but I suspect it might have to do with your damned father or worse!"  
_

_"Will you quit blaming Father, Uncle? You've done that my whole damned life!" Ishi blurted angrily. For the past decade and a half, Javik had blamed several problems in the family upon Ishi's missing father... including the death of Mother.  
_

_"Why? Where was he when you were born? Where was he when you enrolled in your first day of school?! Where was that cowardly bastard when my sister died at the hands of the Reapers?!" Javik's voice echoed with rage, as he punched the tome. The cover became dented.  
_

_"Boy, things like this make me think of the children that are turned against us by the Reapers..." Javik said, solemnly. In a moment, Ishi knew what he was saying. In a moment, he saw children from his age up to adulthood and even younger. Their bodies were twisted and their eyes were glowing blue. They wielded strange beam weapons as they fired at Prothean soldiers. Behind them, the unmistakable shape of the Reapers stalked behind them, firing at everything that was Prothean.  
_

_"I understand that you care for me, Uncle. But you must admit: I am not a little child anymore! I am going to be of legal age soon!" Ishi pleaded.  
_

_"If we survive that long, yes. But you forget one thing: You are living in the family house. And by Imperial law: as I am the oldest member of the family now, you have to obey my rules, Ishi!" Javik said, arms crossed. Ishi grunted angrily and clenched his fist.  
_

_" Right now, I say that you should throw that tome away in the incinerator!" Javik said, walking towards the door. He paused as he turned around. "And don't think of any punches. You still owe me a week's worth of your allowance!" Javik said, referring to an incident that involved Ishi being slammed against a wall during a training match and a family bust being broken. That was over half a year's worth of allowance that had been taken. However, it may not matter soon. _

_The door hissed shut behind him. Ishi grunted in frustration as he looked at the tome. Since the day he had turned twelve, the damned tomes had appeared. Mother had always encouraged him to be a scholar, though Javik had trained him in the ways of war. Mother always did believe that the War would end soon and that there would be peace until her dying day. _

_Ishi blinked at what he saw. There was some kind of crystal. Strange, how'd that get here? Javik wasn't the culprit... Ishi looked at the strange, white crystal. It was humming with some kind of power. What it was... it was mystical. Its genetic marker showed some sort of advanced technology that was familiar, yet strange. _

_'Wonder if I should fetch Uncle Javik?' He wondered. He looked back at the crystal. It looked harmless enough. Reaper technology wasn't like this. Ishi walked forward and gently touched it. Nothing had happened. _

_Ishi grinned, relieved. He chuckled. 'Scared by a stupid piece of refined roc-' His thought was interrupted as he sensed a shift in the temperature and air around him. _

_"What the-?" The crystal glowed brighter and it began to vibrate with some kind of energy. Ishi dropped it and immediately bolted for the door out of his room, cursing. He then jumped as he felt some loud roar in his ears. _

_"Uncle Javik!" He yelled. There was a noise of heavy footsteps that quickly came. There was a vibration from outside then heavy banging. _

_"Ishi! Let go of the door handle!" _

_"I can't! It'll suck me in if I do!" Ishi yelled as he felt his feet come off the ground. He did not dare look at the bright light behind him as he held on the handle for dear life. _

_There was banging on the door. _

_"ISHI! WHAT IS THAT NOISE!"  
"Uncle Javik! Please get in here! I'm serious! This thing is-" His grip was becoming sweaty. Oh Defecate! He had to let go just as the door opened. _

_"UNCLE JAVIK!" He cried out as he was sucked into whatever the hell this thing was. Javik's face was one of horror and astonishment as he reached outward towards Ishi with his right hand. _

_"ISHI! NO!"  
_

_"AAAAAGGGHHH!" Ishi screamed. His room and Javik were becoming smaller as he traveled down the distance of this tunnel of light. They dissappeared in the horizon of whatever the hell this thing was. Ishi haad a feeling that they might not be seen again for awhile as he flew through the tunnel until he hit something on his back when he came out the other end of the 'light tunnel'. He lost conciousness after that._

_XXX  
_(Vidic's POV)

Whatever was happening, he wasn't seeing it on the console. How the hell was that possible?! It was like some kidn of device was interfering with the memory core's transmission! Vidic looked at Subject 18.

"What secrets are you hiding?" He whispered, eager to learn them. A feeling formed in his stomach. Something bad was happening around this kid. Whatever it was, he wanted to know right damn now!

The blue tattooes on the gauntlets were glowing, he saw. They were flashing with blue light as it pulsed through them. What in the name of the Father of Understanding was this? Was this some kind of new Piece of Eden? The technology looked bulkier and a bit less... elegant than First Civilization tech, but obviously this was something beyond that of human hands! Though, it did fit a teenaged humans palms and the design looked like it was for humanoids. The swords also looked like they were otherworldly. What were these things?

There was a vibration and a ring from his mobile. Vidic answered.

"Hello? This is Dr. Vidic. Who is this?" He asked.

_"Sir, this is Outpost 4," _A undercover security guard said._ "we've... well... we're not sure what the hell just happened, but something out of the ground just halted traffic close to our building. Three or five other intersections are hit too."_

"What?" Vidic said alarmed.

_"Sir, I don't know how to explain this in science terms ( I'm not a geologist) but a freaking rock wall just came out of the intersection directly in front of our facility. More of them are coming up around us as we speak. One of our cars just hit the damn thing!"_

"Get one of our scientists there on the double and increase the amount of security around the perimeter. Form a surveilance perimeter around this facility for at least three blocks and see if you can find any sign of Assassins. I'll have one of our geologists and engineer teams look at it. Is that clear?"

_"Yes, sir."_

"Good, report back in at least two hours." Vidic said. He hung up before the guard could answer. Just then, he heard a crash outside of the building and ran over to the window. He watched as something flew through the air down the street. It looked like it was five buildings down.

He saw the object crash into a garbage truck, which made it stop. There were police sirens in the distance. Something strange was going on. A small part of his mind was saying 'it's about the kid!' Of course, he did his absolute best to dismiss that thought.

XXX  
(Cralt's POV)

**"Will, it's worked. I've been monitoring communications between Vidic and a security element's leader. They're confused. I've begun making a perimeter around for about two blocks and work inward then outward."** I said into my mike. I wore my green hooded sweatshirt as I walked. I put a cellphone in my ear as I spoke. I then spotted a black van. I looked down at a screen as I turned a corner. Scans said that it had known Abstergo employees onboard. All were undercover security guards. More like underrated security guards. Wonder how far this thing can fly?

I grinned as I made a gesture with three fingers at the van. Immediately, the ground shook as three pillars arose from the street, each topped by black pavement, came up and sent the van flying through the air and into a garbage truck. Who says you can't have a little fun while saving a kinsman?

Will's voice crackled in my ear.

**"Was that an SUV that just flew?"**

**"No, that was a van. There's a difference... shouldn't you be inside right now?"** I retorted.

XXX

(Will's POV)

"I'm in." I whispered into the com, I was literally walking straight into Abstergo's front door, I saw multiple workers looking at me strangely, obviously because of my black hoodie, obviously some of the Templar workers were aware that I was an assassin. But I didn't care, Ben was the only thing I was focusing on at the moment.

I approached the elevator, but as I did, I heard the clicking of guns behind me, and someone say. "Don't take another step, Assassin." I slowly turned around, and I came face to face with The Brotherhood's infamous traitor, Daniel Cross.

I heard the intercom turn on.

"Well well, another Assassin." I heard an old man's voice, Vidic…one of the Templar's leading figures during 2012…at least until December 12. "Quite bold and quite desperate your Order has become."

"Judging on the looks of him Doc, he's a master Assassin…" Cross said. "You can tell since he's wearing black and he has two blades instead of one."

"That doesn't matter, obviously he is here for Subject 18…take him to my office." Vidic ordered.

"You heard the boss man." Cross said. "Hands up."

Slowly, I took my hands out of my coat pockets, and held both of them up. Cross and the other guards were ready for whatever I had in store…or so they thought.

Cross noticed my palms were closed.

"Open your palms." The former Convict ordered. I nodded, but hid a smug smirk.

"As you wish," I said. I opened my palms…and several black spheres fell out of my palms, and onto the ground. They all looked at them, suddenly a thick black cloud erupted from the spheres, next thing I heard was coughing and gagging. I pulled up my collar, giving me air, I activated Eagle Vision, allowing me to see through the clouds. "You asked for it traitor!"

I slamed my foot into the traitor's jaw, and pulled out my AMP cross, activating my electric touch, and shot all of the guards with bolts of electricity, electrifying them to death, I'll leave Cross for Desmond in a few months.

I ran to the elevator, and pressed the button, and entered and pressed the button to take me to the sixteenth floor. I waited for a few minutes, but the elevator stopped at floor six.

"You really aren't the brighte…" I heard Vidic's voice over the intercom but shot the speaker, but he could still hear and see me. I looked at the camera.

"I'm not that stupid, old man." I then shot the camera.

I opened up the upper hatch, and fired my grabbling blade, it took me all the way up to floor thirteen, I fired again, and I ended up on Floor sixteen, I dangled from the edge briefly, and heard the doors leading to the floor open up, I waited, heard a guard above me, I then reached up, and impaled the guard with my blade, and pulled him over the ledge, I heard him cry out as he fell to the floor several hundred feet bellow us. I climbed up, drew my katana, and impaled the guard who was shooting at me, but I threw him down the shaft after I stabbed him.

I continued to run for the Animus Room Ben was at, I kicked the door down, and entered the room…only to find it was empty.

"Fuck…" I said, I tapped my comlink. "Cralt, Ben isn't here…" I could only hear static. "Damn it…"

I suddenly heard gun fire. I took cover behind the Animus 1.0

But I got up, and saw Cross a few feet away, entering from Desmond's old bedroom, reloading his SMG. We paced around one another.

"Still find it funny," Cross said. "It's the Twenty first century and your kind is still using a small knife for protection?"

"Coming from the traitor who killed our leader with his own blade…also coming from the Asshole we feed, sheltered and trained for two full years…only to have him betray us to the Templars…" I said, recounting the history of our order.

"Not like you all would understand. If you all found out, you would've locked me up in an interrogation room and torture me for everything I knew."

"You're right, we would have…if we found you after you escaped. But we would've found another way if you stayed and explained everything…but you vanished and gave away our Camp locations. Everyone thought of you as a traitor…" I paused. "All except Hannah Mueller…" He froze at the name, got you. "Hannah was the only one who believed in you…thought there was still a chance you could return to the Brotherhood…but no…no. What did she get for her faith in you? You stabbed her in the stomach, and left her bleeding to death on the ground, crying! That the man she cared about, was truly either gone forever, or was never there to begin with!"

"Don't you DARE talk about HER!" Cross yelled.

I held up my arms. "Then go ahead, kill me…TEMPLAR!"

Cross yelled in fury, and fired his gun, but suddenly a golden field appeared around me, and the bullet flew past me, and hit the window behind Vidic's desk. Cross looked in shcok at me. I held up the shard of eden that was around my neck liked a necklace.

"Think you Templars are the only one's with Pieces of Eden?" I said. Cross threw his gun to the ground, and charged forward, but I vanished in the shadows. Cross looked around, shocked at what happened.

I slowly moved through the shadows, vanishing and appearing at a fast rate. All he could hear were the sounds of me vanishing.

I then appeared behind him, and pushed him to the floor. When he got up, I stood in front of him, Falcon Blade summoned and drawn, electricity radiating off of it.

"What the fuck are you…" Cross said.

"A lot of my friends call me a Runner," I said. "But I'm also a Phantom…"

XXX

(Ben's POV)

_Warning! _

_Sequence Data is being Copied! _

_Warning! _

_Animus software being copied illegally! _

_Please contact Tech Support and/or- The connection cut off and I blinked as I tried to comprehend what I just saw. _

_I just saw something that was close to my situation three weeks back. What were those people? They mentioned the word... 'Reapers'. Only one species I knew of could... Ugh, I have a headache. I need to rest. _

"C'mon, Subject 18... we need to go." Vidic said. I blinked. I had the sudden feeling that I could feel something like it was some kind of essence or marker. It was like what Ishi felt. I could feel someone else's fear and confusion as well as malice and arrogance. At first, I thought he pissed himself.

'You need to change your pants? I can smell your crap or piss even this close and my sense of smell isn't that well developed." I said, trying to sit up.

"Excuse me?" Vidic asked as I struggled to get up.

"Oh gosh, my legs have pins and needles again. Haven't had that in three weeks." I muttered, feeling my foot become weird.

"Boy, speak respectively to your elders! And if you make another crack about me being scared: hell to pay!" He said, tugging my ear.

"Gah!" I said, as he dragged me towards the door. I could now sense Anger. What am I now: an Empath from Star Trek? This whole place smells wrong! I could feel the pain, sadness, and rare cases of madness and death here. It made me shudder.

"Get a team of guards here on the double! We're going to the top floor!" I heard Vidic say. I felt sick in my stomach.

"Can we please get a drink of water?" I asked. He then threw me in the elevator and we went all the way up to the top floor.

"What the heck's going on, Doc? I thought Cross was supposed to get the bastard?!"

"He plowed through a whole bunch of security teams on Floor Sixteen." I heard another guard say.

"Obviously, he is a lot more skilled than we could have imagined." He turned to a young guard.

"When we get up to the main office, I want you to tie his hands and have him on his knees. We want to... persuade him to choose an alternative decision." I heard him say. Already, there's a rescue attempt? I guess whoever it is, they beat the record by several days.

XXX

I was in the middle of a circle with armed guards in a semi circle around me. My hands were tied with nylon cord and I was sitting cross-legged.

"He should be here any minute now..." Vidic said. The place was well-lit, I had to admit. The door suddenly rocked as someone was screaming outside.

"Not the face! Not the face!" The door then swung open and guy fell back swearing. In the doorway was a black-hooded man. He looked around late twenties mid thirties. He wielded a big huge cross bow. I couldn't see his face, but he sure was tall.

He raised the crossbow at Vidic and held an SMG in his other hand as he pointed at them.

"Let him go. Now." He said. I looked at him. He seemed familiar. Now the air was becoming rife with tension... fear...

"Who keeps pissing their pants and or crapping in them?" I asked, looking around. There were looks.

"I swear! Not ten minutes out of the darn Animus! Someone is soiling themselves! Will you all just do what he says! Not only that but change your goshdarn pants!" I said, groggilly.

I really wanted to get my swords. If I still had Toa Powers... these guys would all have been down in under a minute or thirty seconds.

I got hit on the back of the head.

"Shut up you!"

_"Don't you fucking dare hurt him!"_ The man growled.

"I suggest you do what the man says, Vidic. Do you want your replacement to mess up your work?" I asked.

"Boy! When I told you to be quiet- I told you to-!" Vidic walked over to me. I sensed it. I grinned as I broke off the cords with a flick of my wrist, spun-kicked him, and then kicked him as he fell into the wall. Two guards went with him. In a blur, I saw the man then take out the others in a flurry of kicks, assassinations and arrows. In the end, there was groaning all around. I walked over to Vidic and grabbed him by the collar.

"Where are my swords?!" He coughed.

"How should I-"

I slammed him into the wall.

"Don't mess with me, Vidic!" I noticed that my voice sounded resonant. I looked closely at him.

"Buddy... those swords belonged to my Dad who kicked some serious ass! What I would do to you would make the coming solar flare look like fluke if you don't give me back my swords!" I growled.

I then heard something from below before he could reply. Out of the blue, two objects appeared. I realized that these were my swords. Their tattoos were glowing white-blue. They looked clean. I also noticed that my gauntlets were glowing.

"Weird..." I muttered.

"You kill me... and you will find yourself in a world of trouble." Vidic said, looking at me. I already am in a world of trouble.

"Warren, you're lucky I don't put you in the animus, find out everything you know and then use it against your kind and obliterate it all!" I said angrily. I knocked him out and then put him in a trashcan.

I grabbed my sheathed swords and slung them over my back. I looked at the man as he jumped over the small hole.

"I know that we're about to escape, but: Who are you?" I asked. He looked at me.

XXX

Will's POV:

I was impressed with Ben's skills, he really was his father's son. Slowly, I pushed back my hood and dropped Cross' SMG.

"Will," I said simply. "I'm an Assassin, from my present day."

Ben looked at my attire, and at my cybernetic hand. Slowly I walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder, he tensed briefly.

"You might want to brace yourself," I said. Two seconds after I said that, several explosions sounded off from the lower levels of the facility. The entire office shook, I slowly held up my amp cross and fired two bolts at the window. I motioned him forward.

We stood near the ledge.

"Ever performed a leap of faith?" I asked.

"No…" He answered.

"You're about to." I said. I heard a yell, I spun around in time to see Cross charging at me, he was bruised from the last fight I had with him. I looked over at Vidic's body, who he was now moving. I grabbed the old man by his collar.

"Let me go!" He demanded. "I'll!"

I caught him off by holding him in front of us, Cross stopped, he had a knife drawn, but slowly eased up. I smirked, looks like history was right.

"Take a step closer Cross…" I said, holding my hidden blade to Vidic's throat. "And I will kill him."

"You wouldn't!" Vidic said. "This isn't your…"

"You think you know anything about our order? Templar." I whispered into his ear. "First tenant of our creed keeps us from killing an innocent, but from your file, you took part in second hand murder of fifteen people. The most notable was Clay Kaczmarick, or how you labeled him, Subject 16. You are one of our orders top priorities to kill, the Templar's De Facto Leader, I have no qualms with killing you."

"Please…I beg you! We can come to a compromise!" Vidic said. "You can't just walk out of here…they will kill you…we will have snipers…"

"Yeah, my blade is close to your throat, meaning if they shoot me, my last action will be my blade running through your throat. But luckily for you, I don't intend to leave through the front door." I said. I looked at Ben. "Get ready."

He nodded. I turned my attention to Cross, who paced around impatiently, as if he was waiting.

We were still for a few minutes. That was when I backed up to the ledge, Vidic looked at me, frantically.

"Wha…what are you doing!"

"Have a little faith doctor!" I said, I then threw him out the window. Before Ben or Cross could react, I grabbed Ben by the shoulder, and the two of us fell out of the window.

We free fell for a few seconds, I could see Vidic bellow us, his screams were loud, so much for the tough hardened old man the Templars wanted the Assassin's to believe. I held up my free hand, and fired a cable which wrapped around Vidic's entire body, then with the cable still attached to my gauntlet, I motioned both me and Ben so that way the middle of the cable would catch on to a flag pole, we came to a sudden stop, I was surprised the flag pole held. I looked over at Vidic, he was frantic, he dangled where he was at.

Then, I swing to a ledge of the building, and let Ben go onto the ledge, I slowly balanced myself on the pole, and detached the cable, I caught it quickly, and began to tie the end of the cable on to the pole, Vidic now hung up side down. He looked up at me, I smirked. I jumped up to the ledge where Ben was at. Ben looked at Vidic, and grinned.

"Hang in there doc!" Ben said.

I touched his shoulder, I looked up into the sky, slowly a black cloud formed around us, and as the both of us shadow jumped away, I could hear Vidic yell "THIS ISN'T OVER!"


	4. En route

( _Disclaimer: I do not own Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, its locations, characters or anything like that. It belongs to its rightful owners!)_

(Ben's POV)

It felt really weird. One moment, I was in the alleyway. The next, we were in something else. It was something dark and mysterious. And then, we found ourselves on solid ground in somewhere else. I looked around. This place was some kind of courtyard.

"Well, he could have been a bit more inconspicous." Will said. I turned around. There was a big huge hole. Will was reading a yellow posted note that was attached to a piece of paper.

"This tunnel will help us get out of town." He said. I nodded. We climbed into it. I looked down as it got darker. There were platforms made from what appeared to be concrete, metal pipes, and other things like rock.

"Did you do this?" I asked. Will shook his head.

"No, that was someone else. I'll explain later." Will said. I nodded. We then began climbing down the big huge hole and into possibly makeshift sewer tunnels. It was dirty, smelly, but alright. What else could we do?

"So, why did you come for me?" I asked as we walked. Will was leading.

"Well, I... I knew your father."

"You knew my Dad? Really?" I asked. Will nodded.

"Yep, Jeremy was pretty darn crazy. But he was a good fighter. He helped me out a bit back in the day in my reality." He said.

"You're a Walker?" I asked, shocked.

"No, not one of those, sorry. I'm from... what you would call an alternate future of this reality." Will said. An assassin from the alternate future of _AC_?! What was Dad doing?!

I could feel some kind of essence like nostalgia, worry, calm, bravery, and experience around him. Not to mention a tad bit of anger.

"And it was because I knew your father that I'm one of your godfathers." He added. I froze.

"You... Really?" I asked, dumbfounded. I then shook my head. I stopped.

"A Templar tried to make me think he was a US Marine guarding an embassy but I saw through him. How do I know that I can trust you?" I asked, crossing my arms. He turned around.

"If I was an enemy, you'd be dead by now." Will said. I thought for a moment. Point there, I guess.  
"How well did you know him?" I asked.

"Well, a bit. I also knew your mother and uncle. Speaking of which, how are they?" Will asked.

"I haven't seen them since I was made a godfather," He added. He might have seen Lhikan too.

"Dad's been gone for my whole life." Will sighed.

"That's tough, I know. He must have been gone because he was-"

"doing his job'... that's what Mom would always tell me." I finished for him. Will looked at me closely.

"What makes you use past tense? Is Jenny alright?" Will asked. I looked up at him.

"You mean, you didn't hear? Even though you're a member of my family?" I asked. He shook his head, frowning.

"No, I was away in my reality. Jenny and David went to another reality for your safety after you were born. Nobody heard from them for their own protection... yours included. Why? What happened?" Will asked.

I looked at him and sighed.

"Mom was killed in a car accident while I was in Metru Nui. Nobody sent me a message. I just learned it today- last night or whatever time goes for my few hours." I said, bitterly. Will had a solemn expression.

"Dear God... Ben... I am sorry for..." He turned away from me muttering 'why the hell did he _not_ tell me this?! Does everyone else know?!'

"Not only that, but before I learned that... Lhikan died right in front of me!" I said. Will gave me a very solemn expression and he sighed. We entered a brief period of silence.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, we need to get out of here before my programmed ancestor kills me before I'm born!" Will said, walking. I looked up, drawn out of my depression.

"Wait- whose your ancestor?! It's not that bearded bastard Vidic is it?" I asked. He smirked.

"You'd wish! But no. Daniel Cross was my ancestor. He was that blonde-haired man that had the knife back there."  
Cross.. Cross. I may have heard it before.

"Daniel Cross was descended from a Russian Assassin who fled from Russia during the Russian Revolution back in 1917. I think he's a grandson or great-grandson. When he was a kid, his parents were killed and he was taken by the Templars in the 1980s. They did terrible experiments and made him a sleeper agent. In the early 2000s, Cross linked up with the Assassins by accident and did a few missions for them.

However, his internal programming kicked in and he killed the Mentor of the time. He betrayed the Assassins by giving the Templars locations of camps and bases. It was a blood-bath." Will said.

"And how the hell is this psycho your ancestor?! He didn't- did he?!" I asked, shocked.

"What?! No! During his time with the Assassins, he met my other ancestor: Hannah Muller." Will said.  
"Name might ring a bell."

"Yeah, she was his friend. She tried to help him be on the right side, but it was too late. However, they did have a... moment." Will said, awkwardly.

"And from that brief union, Cross's baby was born." I said. I then had another thought.  
"What happened to Hannah?" I asked. Maybe he would like to see his ancestral mother? It could be a bit warm and-

"Well, Hannah tried to get Cross back on the Assassin's side. But it was basically impossible to change the brainwashing. She was killed by Cross."

I froze.  
"Dude... that is just fucked up." I said stunned by what he said. Will sighed and nodded.

"I know." He said. We walked further in silence.

When we got to the end of the tunnel, it was slanted upwards and was right outside the city in the country side. I sat down as soon as we got out of the mouth of that snake hole. I took a few breaths and sat down on a rock. My legs were killing me.

"Alright... what now?" I asked.

"Well, there's supposed to be a vehicle somewhere that'll take us to a safehouse... at least, I think it's a safehouse." He said.

"And who helped you with this again?" I asked. Will was looking at the back of the paper.

"His name's Cralt. He's your Travelmaster. He's the one who recruited me to rescue you." Will said. I nodded.

"Alright. " I said. I felt confusion from Will. Whatever ability I have... it makes me feel like an empath. However, it's more of a... genetic thing, I guess.

"Uncle Will... are we lost?" I asked. Will froze and then nodded. He hesitated before answering my question.

"Yes... yes we are." He said. I sighed.

"Now, what do we do?" I asked.

I then saw a holoscreen pop up from my right gauntlet.

_'My sensors indicate that the vehicle in question is 250 meters northwest of our current position, Master Valin.' I sat up._

"Hello!" I said. 'What is this thing? Is this an AI?' I thought.

Will looked at me."What?" He said, walking over to me.

'I am your Personal Armor Artificial Intelligence Assistant; otherwise known as 'PAAIA'. the screen's text changed.

"Alright... PAAIA. How come you never popped up before?" I asked.

'This suit's energy supply was low and a sufficient source was needed. Upon being connected to the Animus, I merely used the Animus's power supply to refill my energy supply. As it was also striving to enter your genetic lineage, I took the liberty of copying its software and am now able to mimic its technological capabilities while blocking unauthorized access to the memories of your ancestors.' PAAIA wrote.

"And why can't you talk?" I asked.

'I am not equipped with a vocal speaker. However, as this suit is capable of neural integration and access, you are able to issue orders to me for my vast knowledge database, technological and mechanical functions, etc.' PAAIA said. I nodded. That's some good stuff right there. Now, how do I install _Halo_ on you?

'I am not programmed for entertainment installation!' PAAIA wrote. I sighed as Alex gave me a questionable eyebrow raise.

'Alright, do you have a GPS function?' I asked.

In response, the screen shifted to have an accurate view of our location from space. And then it zoomed down to within a mile or two of us and the escape car. I nodded.  
"Good job, PAAIA!" I said. With PAAIA guiding us, we had to cross an old road and found ourselves in an abandoned farm. The vehicle was in the barn. Strangely, it had a big hole in the roof. Will and I opened the doors. I was expecting a fast car, a van or something. But what I saw in the sunlight made me drop my jaw.

" Gosh! That's a Pelican VTOL!" I exclaimed, walking over to the dropship from Halo. I read that it could fit 75 pre-teen kids as well as maybe two squads of soldiers or more if the seats were taken off. It had a closeable ramp and this thing could go into space! Wonder what it runs on?

"Can you fly this thing, Uncle Will?" I asked. Will nodded.

"Sure, I guess I can." He said. At least the ramp was open. I climbed in second while Will went over to the pilot's seat. Apparently, _Halo 3_ portrayed this thing's inside very accurately! I reclined in what would be the co-pilot's chair and leaned back after putting my safety harness on. After some adjustments, Will announced something.

"It looks like the Pelican has some pre-set coordinates. It looks like Cralt wanted us to go somewhere in New York or somewhere around that area." Will said. I nodded. I used to go to New York when I had school breaks or vacations. Not only that, but I got to see West Point, New York City, Buffalo, as well as accidentally go into Canada during a camping trip. Good times, good times.

"I'm going to take a little nap or something like that. Wake me up when we get there." I said, yawning. I had gone through almost a whole day without sleep. I leaned back in my chair. I then felt something in my head like a pain and then...

XXX

_It was all white around me._

_'What the hell?! Where am I?'_ _Black text appeared in front of me. _

_'This is an Animus session, Master Valin. It requires that you use the Animus programming several times a day.' _

_'And why exactly should I be looking at an alien ancestor and_ _not get some sleep?!' I asked, angrily. _

_'I would see this as an educational tool that allows you to witness the lessons learned by your ancestors as well as their experiences and unlock their abilities. Such as Master Okagaru-Valin's ability to perceive at an advanced level, comprehend nervous systems and absorb ideas, concepts, lessons (etc.) psychologically and his fighting styles.' I thought about it for a moment. _

_'Alright, jack me in. I want to see how this goes. No tricks, got it?' _

_'Of course, Master Valin. I do not dare trick those I am supposed to serve.' _

_XXX_

_(Ishi's POV) _

_Ishi groaned as his conciousness seperated itself from the blackness. He opened his eyes as he heard a strange beeping sound. It made two sounds every second or two. Not only that, but he was staring at a white ceiling that had mountain ranges on them or so it appeared. "What the-?" He said aloud, feeling strange. _

_Ishi sat up looking around. He sensed something familiar to this place. It felt... wrong but also right. Not only that, but he could feel something familiar but advanced in culture or technological aspects. His eyes scanned the room. He noticed that he could only see through two for some reason. The furniture around this... cell? room? was very strange. There was a dark brown desk of some kind of wood with a lamp that had an actual support on it. Plus there was some kind of holographic, three-dimensional console that was yellow. _

_"What in the name of the Exemplars?" He asked aloud looking at what appeared on the screen. There was an image of some kind of primitive building that had smoke from the windows. There was some kind of writing underneath it with an icon of a white arrow pointing in the right direction. Strange... _

_Ishi then noticed another thing that was strange. He looked down. His hands were now mocha-brown colored and they looked almost like... _

_"WHAT THE HELL?!" He yelled. He put his hands on his head. It was much more blockier and rounder. Not only that but it so damn smaller! He had a nose with two nostrils rather than just four! _

_"That's not mine!" He yelled. He ran throughout the apparent apartment and found a restroom. The mirror showed his exact height but... _

_He blinked at what he saw. _

_"This cannot be right." He said. He looked like _a human. _This body looked outrageous! He had mocha skin and slanted eyes. Not only that but he had actual facial hair growing like a beard as well as a mustache and some kind of ball-like curly hair. He looked ridiculous with it. He felt it. It was actual damn hair! _

_"How is this possible?" He muttered, taking a closer look. The estimations by several leading scientists before the Great War began was that humans would evolve to possibly something like this within scores of generations or millenia. Not only that but their intelligence would increase to possible space-faring intelligence. It was also suggested that when they matured that they would be give the Choice: to join the Empire peacefully or be forced to join brutally. Like anyone has a choice anymore. He sighed. _

_"This has to be a dream!" He muttered, bitterly. He hit his head on the wall very hard and staggered. . Definetely not a dream. _

_Ishi looked again at the mirror, confused. He noticed that he was wearing a gray T-shirt and some form of pants. It must be some kind of fashion. Still, it did look casual, though he preferred a tunic that was gray or green. Plus something with a hood._

_Ishi walked out of the restroom, sighing. _

_"So, this is what the primitives will look like. At least I still have my senses." He whispered. He went out into the combined kitchen, dining room and living room. There was another holoscreen and some kind of device. There was also a table with three chairs with a small box on the table. And there was some kind of refigeration unit that had stapled pieces of paper that were magnetically stuck to the door. He shook his head. _

_"What is all this?" He muttered. Ishi inspected the strange small cardboard box and opened it carefully. He dropped his jaw. There was a memory shard! He touched it and felt its cool grip. He then grabbed it and inspected it. _

_Suddenly, he felt something enter his mind. It began to embed itself into his brain and become absorbed by his mind, adding to his knowledge and allowing him to comprehend... something or several things, he would never be sure. All that he knew was that it hurt like hell. _

_He dropped the shard and staggered. Something had just happened. He shook his head as his vision became blurry and corrected itself. His head hurt real bad... like it was about to burst. Not only that, but if this thing was a mask how do you take it off?! _

_Ishi looked at the papers and for the first time... he could clearly read and understand the words! _It showed a picture of his human body with a blank expression. The words were written in English.. whatever that was.

_Name of Cadet: Ishimura C. Okagaru-Valin. _

_Age: 15_

_Birthdate: 3/19/2511_

_Birthplace: Neo Tokyo, Neo Nippon Province _

_Birth World: Eden Prime_

_Dear Mr. Okagaru Valin, _

_We are pleased to have accepted such a talented and bright child of a fallen soldier! The Corbulo Academy of Military Sciences (CAMS) has held a long tradition of excellence at producing the finest officers for the UNSC for centuries. We instill our cadets with a sense of patriotism, duty, and honor in General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo's name. _

_We are hoping that the experience and lessons that you gain at CAMS will provide you with a great experience and sense of duty and pride in the UNSC as you learn important history lessons, tactics, strategy as well as leadership roles. You will participate in war games and training exercises under the supervision by UNSC officers that will provide you with guidance in their years as officers in the Army, Navy and Marines. _

_Upon graduation, you will become a commissioned officer of the UNSC and defend the human race from all enemies foreign and domestic. Looking back on your time at CAMS can give you a sense of accomplishment. _

_At CAMS our motto is Axios, a latin word meaning 'I am Worthy'. This word used by General Corbulo himself when he fell for his unquestionable duty to the Old Roman Empire. At CAMS this applies to every cadet's way of thinking. It inspires honor, confidence, self-sacrifice and duty to the cadet's squad, the academy, General Corbulo, the UNSC and humanity itself. Good luck, Cadet!_

_Sincerely, _

_General Alexander Black  
Superintendent of CAMS_

_"Is this a future without us? What happened to these humans? What is this 'UNSC'?" He asked aloud. Suddenly, the knowledge or basic knowledge of it came to him: United Nations Space Command- the militaristic branch of of humankind's United Earth Government in space. It is militaristic and has an Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. _

_Ishi sighed. That memory shard must have been an educational rather than one based on gathered memories and experience. _

_There was a knock on the door. Ishi looked up. He sensed something... militaristic outside as well as determined and dutiful. Ishi walked over towards the door, hesitantly. He turned the primitive handle and pulled it to reveal two men in dark uniforms. Since absorbing the knowlege from the education shard, Ishi could see that one of the men was a 'Lieutenant Commander' on his collar with an 'Ensign'. _

_"Ishigurama Okagaru-Valin?" The Lieutenant Commander asked. he was a big man that had Ishi's human skin but was heavily built. He had campaign ribbons and commendations as well as medals. _

_"Yes?" Ishi asked. _

_"We're the escort detail," The Ensign said. it clicked in Ishi's head: the Academy. How in all the Gods' names did this happen?! Someone was sending him to a military school! Those bastards! _

_Ishi nodded. _

_"Okay," _

_"Is there anything you want to bring with you? Toothbrush, mementos, anything like that?" the Lieutenant Commander asked. His nametag read Giles now that Ishi could see. The Ensign was Fujikara. _

_"No, sir. Nothing at all." Ishi said. _

_"You're sure?" The man asked. Though his demeanor was nice, Ishi sensed impatience. _

_"No, I do not want to keep you waiting." Ishi said. He walked out of the apartment with them into this strange new apartment. _

_Ishi walked with them. The city here was quite a metropolis but somewhat primitive. Still it was impressive. There was a single spire rising above the skyline. It had many rings around it and looked like some sort of elevator. _

_"What is that? That thing over there? The one in the sky?" Ishi asked Ensign Fujikara. _

_"What that? You've never seen an Orbital Elevator?" Ishi shook his head. _

_"No, I have never even heard of one." Ishi replied. _

_"Those things take you up to the orbital docks. And from there you catch a transport to wherever you're headed... Some places use space ports but the most wealthy colonies use orbital elevators if they can afford the cost and the maintenance." Fujikara replied. _

_"And from there, you're going to hitch a ride to Circinius IV, where the Academy is." Giles added. _

_They then walked to some sort of lot where many vehicles were. They had wheels on them... how quaint. They also looked weird. Perhaps this is human technology in the future? _

_Ishi sat down in the back. A screen appeared or soemthing like that. It showed a map of the city and... a holographic figure appeared from a projector. _

_'Good Afternoon, Lieutenant Commander Giles! Where'd you like to go?" The figure looked human but the voice was synthesized. _

_"New Chicago Spaceport," _

_Skipping memory_

_Ishi held onto the rail for dear life. He tensed as the container holding him and about a dozen other people shot down the space tether. The journey had been... lesson-learning. _

_'No Mass Relays?! Impossible! This is humanity! We encountered your kind millennia or centuries ago! How the hell did you _not _find mass relays?!' Ishi thought angrily. Not only that, but the weapons that he saw on the guards were dangerously primitive... 'Black-powder weapons that run on gas?! Honestly?!' Ishi thought angrily. These humans discovered an alternate means to travel between clusters and star systems... and they still used weak-ass projectile weapons when they could have had beam or energy weapons and shields. _

_'Bet the armor's shitty too. There are no signs of shields... my gosh, you people have been space-faring for how long and you still do not have energy shields... and AI?! WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU TRUST THOSE TREACHEROUS BASTARDS?! Dumbasses...' Ishi thought. AIs... Synthetics were the reason all hell broke loose in the Empire. _

_A long time ago, the synthetics were trusted servants of the Empire. Then, they rebelled, giving the Protheans their first lesson: never trust synthetics. Over time, as more of their calculating kind were discovered, it was decided that all organics must be united against this common threat, hence the Empire's severe policy of conquest. The Metacon Wars raged on for eons with the organics finally turning the tide... then the Reapers came. _

_Ishi shuddered as he remembered all the stories told of how the Reapers came from darkspace and took advantage of the mass relays. The Citadel was lost in the initial wave of the assault. Communications with other regions of the Empire was cut, entire species were extinguished or mutilated. The effects of indoctrination were witnessed firsthand from accounts of survivors, some of whom were indoctrinated sleeper agents themselves. _

_The fact that humans were using AIs meant that they had not yet learned their first lesson: synthetics are never to be trusted. Though, there were exceptions such as AIs based on memories... such as Victory, the AI of the Salvation bunker. _

_There were other humans here, most of them were youths around the age of this human mask. He noticed that the humans had a diverse range of skin tones, facial features, and other such things including heights. Perhaps it was genetically related? Some scholars back on Paradise Prime had often argued that the disadvantage of the Sole Doctrine was that there was no diversity of doctrines, that all species that were within the Prothean Empire were more 'in-the-box' thinkers. Those that thought outside the 'box' were considered outcasts or traitors. Now it was being realized that those same actions could have saved the Prothean people. _

_Ishi's thoughts were cut off when he glimpsed a view of the world outside of his view-port. It looked like a lush world from orbit but on the ground... damn! It was beautiful. There were forests that covered the nearby hills, rivers and lakes. There were mountains in the distance. The sky was a dawn blue as the sun rose over the eastern hills. So this was Circinius IV. _

_The elevator stopped on the ground. It was a rush after that. Instructors were telling them to firmly go towards an auditorium or something like that. The ceremony was reminiscent of Uncle Javik's stories of being in the Naval Academy back home. This was a scene close to something like this, he guessed. _

_Many things happened, he couldn't recall it all. Not even as a Prothean. There had been shavings of hair, yelling, running, getting his uniform, cadets swearing and such. Then, he remembered being given a piece of paper that had his room number and squad assignment.  
_

_'Hastati squad'?" _Ishi asked. _What an odd name._

_Ishi jogged to his room number. It was a part of a section containing this 'Hastati Squad'. The room was bare save for a holographic console and holoscreen as well as a bed with sheets. There was also a dresser. Ishi looked at the drawers. There was a casual uniform with the apparent symbol of the school on the front of it. There were shirts, casual pants, sweat-pants, and sweatshirts. There was also an object, possibly for cutting something. Maybe his hair or facial hair?_

_He looked at the attached sheet. There was a roster of Hastati squad. At the top was the squad's commanding officer: April Orenski. Beneath her were other names: Thomas Lasky, JJ Chen, Thomas Sullivan, Helgi Silva, Dima Tovachenko, Sullivan, Vickers.  
_

_"Hmm, wonder who my roommate is?" Ishi wondered aloud. He waited for ten minutes for his roommate... but there were none that came in. Ishi looked outside, taking in the genetic markers that the students produced: nervousness, dread, honor, discipline, respect, loss, sadness, calculation, and other such rich markers. Dear Gods, where was the bathroom?! The residue here was too much for him to handle!  
_

_Ishi turned left just as he was looking to the right to see if a possible roommate or squadmate was encountered. He bumped into someone. Having two eyes was much harder than four. His peripheral vision was reduced to shit!  
_

_"Watch it!" A voice said, bitterly. He looked up to see a human adolescent male. He had short-cropped dark brown hair and milky-white fair cream skin. He wore the white uniform of a CAMS cadet.  
_

_"Thousand pardons," Ishi said. _

_"No no, it's alright." The kid nametag read Lasky. _

_"I'm not used to new places," Ishi replied. Lasky nodded. _

_"Yeah, it's going to take getting some used to. My brother never really gave me any tips about this place." _

_Lasky extended his hand. _

_"Tom Lasky, you?" Lasky asked. This must be a human form of greeting. Ishi grabbed the hand with his own and shook it. _

_"Ishi... Ishi Okagaru-Valin." _

_"Pleasure to meet you," _

_XXX  
Memory sequence 1 ended _

_XXX  
_

_(Ben's POV) _

"Ben?" I heard a voice ask. I opened my eyes and I saw Will standing over me. I looked up at Will groggilly.

"Hey, Uncle Will." I said. Will sighed, irritably.

"How do you feel?"

"Like my head's about to burst," I said, sitting up.

"So, what'd you see in there?" Will asked.

"I saw my ancestor enter some kind of military academy for UNSC high-ranking officials' kids. It looks like he came from a _Mass Effect_ and got put into _Halo_... a bit before the UNSC-Covenant War." I said.

Will looked at me with a blank expression. I sighed.

"That's where the _Halo_ games are set: the last year of the UNSC-Covenant War or early, if you count _Halo Wars_."

"Ah," He said.

"Any reason why you would be shown something like that?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know why to tell you the truth," I said.

"Maybe there's something that you don't know yet. I don't know your family really well in terms of history, just your Mom, Dad, and David." Will said. I nodded.

"Okay,"x

XXX

Will's POV:

Ben had just woken up from a bleeding effect; apparently he had seen a vision of his ancestor, who travelled to the "Halo" Universe. Though it sounded interesting, I was worried about his health…what if he ended up like Cross in terms of the Bleeding Effect? He didn't need an Animus to view the memories of his ancestors…I didn't want my godson end up chewing on his tongue, like most of the subjects ended up when they reached the dire stages of the Effect.  
"Are you alright?" I asked.  
"I said I was alright…" Ben said, I could tell he was annoyed for me asking again. "You don't have to worry."  
"Yes, I should." I said. "I don't want you to end up in a hospital, being treated for the Bleeding Effect. If it gets worse, let me know. We'll take you to my home time, there my leader, Alex, can help you out with the effect."  
"How can he do that?" Ben asked.  
"Trust me, Alex has seen a lot, he had to live in an animus program for days." I said.

"That's…"

"Strange, I know. It was either that, or let him kill our friends." I said.  
We were quiet, the Pelican shook lightly due to turbulence, but that was the only noise other than the engines.  
"What's it like in the future?" Ben asked.  
"Depends on which world you're talking about." I said. "You mean Earth?"

"Yeah."

"It's dirty, no more info is needed."  
Ben nodded. He seemed to look a little uncomfortable with talking with me.  
"Listen, Ben." I said. "I'm not much for conversation…at least in this situation. Once we've landed, we can talk. But right now…I need to focus on the flight."  
Ben nodded, understanding.  
The rest of the flight was quiet, no real excitement. But I began to wonder when Alex and the others would try to contact me, to ask for an update.


	5. Arrival

(I referred to Monty Python's Holy Grail movie. So, I don't own that as well)

(Ben's POV)

From Uncle Will's instruments, we were at the Catskills Mountains in New York. I remember coming here a while ago. I came over here to see West Point, hunting, and training for Uncle David's tournament.

Uncle Will positioned the Pelican over a hole in a mountain in the range. He then lowered it down.

"Looks like this is our place," He said.

"Why here?" I asked aloud.

"Don't know, this is where Cralt wanted us to be. I'm sure he had his reasons. Not only that, but it's far from Italy. It better have a damn good stock of food, medicine, and other neccessities," He said. It was dark... it brought back some unpleasant memories. I then saw some kind of flickering lights outside lined on the mountain's interior. Someone hollowed out the mountain?

Will then brought the landing gear down.

"We're here," Will said. I nodded and sat up.

"This place could be a secret hideout. The fact it's got a pad means that there could be something else to it. Not only that but it's underground... perfect for a bomb shelter if you don't count a nuclear weapon." Will added. He opened the rear hatch.

"Let's see what's out there for us, eh?" He patted my shoulder as we left. I followed him. I tensed for an ambush. In front of us was a walkway towards something. The place had interior lighting. We walked over to the metal doors that gave us a sickly-green glow. This reminded me.

"This is what Prothean technology was... when I first saw Ishi," I said.

"How does it work?" He asked. I scratched my head. How did it...? I walked over towards the doors. By instinct I raised my right hand onto its surface. I felt something sense my presence and then look at my body as well as my insides. It felt really weird. I almost staggered back.

"Ben?!" He said, rushing forward.

"It's nothing... just a scanner, I think. It works by genetics," I said.

"How does that work?" He looked at the doors as noises from within were heard... like hums.

"I think it works by genetic markers. That was explained in Ishi's memories," I replied. The doors slid open to reveal a hallway. As we walked forward, the hallways began to become brightly lit by white-blue light. There was a large chamber in front of us. It had several other hallways leading to other corridors. This looked like a lounge of some kind with furniture, a kitchen, a table with some kind of remote and a dining room in one.

"Whoa," Will said, walking forward. He whistled as he rubbed his chin.

"This is some man-cave," He said. Then, a figure appeared in front of us. I stepped back, reaching for my blade.  
"HOLY-" I began to yell. I then realized that the figure was translucent. Upon closer realization, I saw that the armor was different, but the figure was the same... and he looked like Ishi only a bit taller and maybe older.

He raised his right hand as his four eyes looked at us with calm happiness.

_"Hello there. If you are one of my descendants, welcome to this sanctuary!"_ He said, raising his hands with a smile.

_"It has Quantum-Internet access, a holoscreen setup for local, galactic, universal and inter-universal networks, channels, as well as playing personal movies and music, et cetera."_ He said.

_"There are also bedrooms for five or more, simulation rooms, a training room, a gym, weight room, as well as a library with more than enough information for the scholarly."_ He said. He paused before speaking again.

_"Forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Ishigurama Confucius Okagaru-Valin! I helped build this sanctuary and others like it for members of my family, as well as other Walkers in mind."_ He then added with calm sincerity _"For any of you who are new to the whole Walker business: this area was kept in mind to be as close to home comfort as possible. I cannot ascertain every other species, so bear with me. The labels that you find can sense what species you are and adapt to your species language or languages that you know."_

"But," He said with a smile.

_"All in all, you're free to live here as long as your Journey or mission requires you to stay here."_ He then paused again.  
_"I also forgot, this place also has a weapons room, trophy room, as well as workshops for the innovative minds. Plus, there is also a vehicle bay if you want to take a ride around the local countryside or go into battle."_ He said. He then added seriously.

_"Please don't wreck the vehicles, we just paid them off."_ Ishi said. And with that, the recording winked out.

"So, that was a note for us?" I asked. Will nodded.

"Sure was," He said. I clapped my hands as I eyed the fridge.

"This is great! I wonder if there's salami or something in the fridge. Been a long time since I had Genoa! What'll you have, Uncle Will? Beer?" I joked.

"See if it has any iced tea," Will said, going towards a desk with a holographic console.

"I need to talk to someone,"

"Who?"

"My boss," He said. I understood: Be quiet while I'm talking to my boss or there'll be hell to pay if you don't! I went over to the fridge and opened it.

"Sweet Mother of Mata Nui!" I whispered. They had milk, eggs, salami, cheese, bacon, iced tea, soda, and a whole lot of stuff! Thank you Ishi! May you be blessed wherever you are!

I brought out the iced tea first and then opened a cupboard. I turned around to notice the UNSC, an insignia from Javik's shoulder that I saw on a red background, and a Chinese dragon guarding a globe while breathing fire with the ground cracking underneath its feet, there was also air coming from his swishing tail, and water rising from the ground.

"Weird," I said, pouring a cup of iced tea. I looked at Uncle Will as he sat at the desk. I almost drank his cup. I put it on the counter. I then made myself a salami sandwich with pepper jack cheese.

I noticed a holographic screen that appeared. At the top of it it read:

_'Please request food name and weight and/or special variety of foodstuff,'_

"White Italian bread, half a pound" I said. Then, the screen showed the name and weight. For the special variety it showed the 'White'. And then, on something that looked like a scale, the bread loaf appeared! Shoot!

I got out a knife and began making my sandwich.

XXX

(Alex's POV)

"Are you saying you sent him…back in TIME!" An Assassin leader asked Alex, shocked.  
Alex, Emily and five other Assassin's stationed on Pandora sat together in the conference room of Hells Gate. Alex sat at the head of the table, with Emily sitting to his right. There were some seats that were "Filled" with holograms that were projections of the Alex's lieutenants on Earth. Alex was telling them all of Will's mission with the Walkers, his exact time and location being in 2012. A few months before the death of Desmond Miles.  
"I sent Will with the Walkers because he knows more about the Walkers than anyone else on our world." Alex said. "Plus, I know he is skilled with making decisions, so I'm not afraid he will affect anything in the past."  
"You are taking a major risk, sir." Volpe said. "Remember, Juno was freed during that year. What if he makes a decision that affects her release?"  
"Like I said, I have complete trust in Will." He said. "He is only going back in time to save his god son."  
Emily spoke up. "I agree with Alex, we both have fought side by side with Will, if anyone can be careful with not messing up the timeline, it's Will."  
Everyone in the room was silent, until over the intercom, Norm's voice could be heard.  
"Alex, we've got Will's signature. Should we open the Quantum Entanglements?"  
"Go ahead Norm." Alex said. Everyone who sat around the table stood up from their seats, and watched as the conference table slowly slid into the floor, and a holographic projector appeared.

(Ben's POV)

Uncle Will was standing in some kind of three-dimensional grid-like cylindrical device. There were images around him as he spoke.

"Afternoon everyone, sorry for the late report." Will said, bowing his head. I heard something from there. I decided to do a bit of eavesdropping. I went over to the couch with a plate and ate my sandwich.

_"What is your status, Will?"_ I heard someone say. He sounded American, but with a hint of Italian and Native American.

_"I've rescued Ben. However, the Templars happened to do an Animus session on him."_

_"Is he suffering symptoms of the-"_ The same person started to say.

"Nothing so severe as of yet, Mentor." Will said. I almost dropped my sandwich and my plate.

_"You have to be kidding me! Those are 2012 Templars we're talking about! And you two just breezed through them?!"_ Someone half-yelled.

"Ben was... somewhat dazed from his brief time with your former bretheren, but he has the skills of his father. However, the threat that the 2012 Templars represent should not go lightly for us." Uncle Will said.

_"It shouldn't! How old is your godson? Thirteen? Fourteen?"_

"Fifeteen," I muttered quietly so that noone could hear me.

"He just turned fifeteen years old, Brother Maynard." Someone get the Holy Hand Grenade!

_"So, where are you now?"_ I heard 'Alex' ask.

"We're at some kind of sanctuary in the Catskill Mountains on Earth. By coincidence, the ancestor that built this place happens to be the subject of Ben's Animus Sessions."

_"And what's he? An Alien? Autoborg?"_ Maynard asked.

"Actually, it's a Prothean that went into a '_Halo_' universe. I'm sure that the Mentor has learned of such things from Guardian Prime."

_"A Prothean ancestor, really?"_ I heard Alex ask interested. I froze. How in the Hell do these Assassins know about all this shit?! What the hell's Uncle Will been up to? I turned to Uncle Will with a shocked look. My eyes were wide and my jaw dropped.

_"What's your godson doing now?"_ Alex asked after Will nodded.

"He's eating a sandwich,"

_"The entire world in 2012 is at stake and your godson is eating a-"_ The cylinder suddenly dissipated. Will stood there with an irritated expression.

"-Must have lost the connection. Thank you, Cralt." Will said. He turned to me and shook his head.

"What do you think?" He said. I looked at him with a shocked expression.

"I'm a Master Assassin, Ben. You have a lot to learn if you want to live out on your own." He said. I nodded. Will went over to his cup of tea. I decided to go pick a room.

I walked down a hallway. The sign said that it went to the 'residential quarters'. I went to a bedroom on the right and put my swords on the bed. I then went to the restroom. I looked at myself in the mirror for no particular reason.

I had changed. I realized that. My hair was a bit longer and I was starting to have a stubble. Not only that but my clothes were dirty. I was looking more rugged. I activated my armor. I looked a few inches taller and somewhat like a Spartan from Halo. I grinned and had the helmet recede. I looked at myself in armor. I flexed a muscle. I then noticed something on my right shoulder. I had it face the mirror. It said 'Ishi-944' in black letters. They hadn't faded a day.

What did this mean? Had Ishi been a Spartan? I sighed. There were more surprises every hour. I went out of the bathroom and saw Will walking past.

"Ben?"

"In here, Uncle Will!" I called. Will walked back to the doorway and looked at me. He grinned.

"You look so much like him," He said, shaking his head as he crossed his arms. I looked down, having my armor recede.

"I know... I have a lot of thing expected of me. Dad was a Toa Mangai. I'm... I'm the last Toa Metru." I said, solemnly.

"Last what?" He asked.

"Toa usually come in teams. The team before us Metru was Mangai. I'm the last active Toa Metru. Everyone else is now Turaga. Dad was a Mangai and fought during the Toa-Dark Hunter Wars." I said, sighing.

"Taken to a world with a biomechanical species, gained the power of seven elements, lost them, fought the unverse's greatest evil... quite an adventure you had," Will said, counting it all off with his mechanical hand. I shook my head.

"Dude, that was a lucky shot! All I did was try to stop that whole shit from happening by kicking Teridax's ass-" I froze at the word.

"Pardon my french- butt, and therefore prevent a whole lot of trouble and people from dying, that was supposed to be it!"

"Plans never survive contact with the enemy," Will said, voicing a tried-and-true proverb. I nodded.

"Yeah but- there are some villains that are worse than Teridax!"

"Never diminish what you've accomplished... though that might be true. Still, you helped save the universe." Will said, smiling. I shrugged.

"True," I said, thinking about it. I also thought about the friends and family I had left behind. Not to mention the education that I was missing. What was I gaining out of all this? Experience? Wisdom? Knowledge? I could never lead a truly normal life again, _never! _

I suddenly felt tired.

"I've got to get some zees', Uncle Will. Can we talk tomorrow?" I asked.

"We'll be training tomorrow, Ben. I've yet to see all that you learned so far. So, I suggest you rest up. We have a big day tomorrow." Will said. I nodded. He walked out saying 'G'night'. I closed the door and changed my clothes into a pair of pajamas and went to sleep. Oh how I wish I could sleep without these Animus sessions.

XXX

(Ishi's POV)

_Ishi had woken up when the alarms had sounded. This frozen coffin was seriously cold. He had gotten used to it, but still hated the cold. He could not dream in these conditions, a strange thing. Over the past few months, he had gotten to know his fellow squad mates._

_He exited the cryotube, drearily. His vision had become blurry. Then, it started to become better.  
Was this supposed to be how a human soldier called an 'Orbital Drop Shock Trooper' feel upon landing? Or was this as close as it could get.  
_

_"Valin! Get your head out of your ass and get up!" He heard. Ishi shook his head and stumbled forward, cursing silently. Near him, someone was throwing up. The smell of sickness, vomit, and sweat was smelled in his nostrils. He could sense the anxiety and tension of the squad without concentrating. He went over to one of the lockers and opened it after pressing a few numbers on the primitive keypad. The locker opened revealing a dark green helmet with a suit of armor and boots. The name tag on the chest-piece read 'Valin'.  
_


	6. Academy Troubles

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_(Ishi's POV)_

_Ishi had learned the rules very early and the consequences of not following them. The first rule: Don't get shot. __Ishi fired his rifle at a target, nodding when it dropped. He crouched with his teammates: Lasky, Silva, and Sullivan behind a clump of trees. Lasky was the fireteam leader. Lasky talked to Vickers on the COM Channel, something about the RV Point and being there in fifeteen seconds. _

_"Ready?" Silva asked, looking at Sullivan who grinned. _

_"See you at the party," He said. Valin sighed. His adrenaline was pumping through his blood. He was both anxious and pumped up at the same time, but still he would fight. In the Empire, it was fight or die. Death was not preferable. _

_The four ran from their cover through an explosion. Something whizzed past Ishi and he heard Sully cry out. Ishi turned his head. _

_"Sully!" A red mark was on his cuirass. He had been knocked out by the round. Ishi's HUD had a motion tracker on the lower left-hand side of the display. There was an ex through one of the blue triangles marking his allies. _

_"Lasky, move!" Ishi said when Lasky wasn't moving. He pushed Lasky with one hand while running. The three reached their rendevouz point where about seven other teammates were hiding in. It was some kind of cover that was concrete or metal, he wasn't paying attention to it. _

_"They'll be on us in thirty-five seconds," Someone said. Ishi saw two groups of four or five red triangles moving towards their position. _

_"Fresh mags in your weapons, prepare to attack." Vickers said. He would be a blonde-haired boy about the usual age range of the students in the squad: fifeteen or sixteen. He was the team leader for the UNSC team. _

_"What?" Lasky asked in disbelief. _

_"Our orders are to neutralize the insurrectionists and acquire the objective." Vickers said. From what Ishi had been told, these 'Insurrectionists' were human rebels that fought agains the majority of the human empire known as the 'United Earth Government and the Colonial Administration'. Back home, rebels would be shot on the spot for their disloyalty to the Empire. _

_"We can flank them and force a surrender," Lasky said after it was announced that the enemy would arrive in thirty seconds. _

_"It's too close to flank and Innies never surrender!" Vickers snapped. Ishi sighed.  
"Dima can go around them and there's still time to flank them." Silva said. _

_"I can make it," Dima said. _

_"Twenty-five seconds," Oh... it was Chen who was announcing it! Ishi realized._

_"Guys..." Chen said. _

_"It's our only chance," Lasky said. Vickers looked reluctant and furious. He looked at Lasky. _

_"We still stick with my plan," Lasky looked at Vickers in disbelief. _

_"What?" _

_"Your plan won't work!" Lasky protested. _

_"They're my orders, you're not in command anymore." Vickers said firmly. Ishi sighed. Lasky was going to cost them the match again. Might as well save his hide. _

_"Tom, just listen to him." Orenski pleaded. Lasky shook his head. _

_"I'm not following those orders," He said. Ishi shook his head as Lasky got up. Ishi grunted in frustration. Damn it, Thomas! __Lasky ran ahead, yelling the motto 'Axios!'. _

_"I can't believe this," Ishi muttered as he got up and ran to get his friend out of trouble once a-flipping-gain. He charged yelling 'YOLO!' He was told that it was for occassions that resulted from stupidity, in this case, going after Lasky. It meant 'You only live once'. _

_Of course, as he was catching up to Lasky with his rifle raised. Explosions came all around him. Stun rounds raced past him. Lasky fell, yelling. Ishi cursed and ducked, but not before he felt something hit his head and he fell backwards... hard. A red splatter covered his ballistic goggles. He gritted his teeth as he stared up at the trees. _

_Ishi grunted in pain as the back of his head started to feel like it would explode. He heard footsteps coming towards him. Then, a gunshot sounded and he heard Lasky grunt in pain. The footsteps came closer to him. Ishi looked up with at his squad leader, Orenski_.

_"Valin... I'm guessing you were trying to keep Lasky out of trouble, again?" She asked without emotion. _

_"Yes, ma'am." Ishi admitted, reluctantly. _

_"You really need to stop taking responsibility for others, Valin. In this case, you get two." Orenski said without emotion. _

_"Wait- what?" Ishi asked, confused as she raised her rifle. Two shots sounded and... _

_"_OH DEAR EXEMPLARS_!" He shouted as he covered his throbbing sensitive spot. _

_(Fastfowarding to a more recent memory)_

_XXX_

_Ishi scratched the paint off of his glasses furiously. He sighed. _

_"Six months here and this whole place feels more like hell." He muttered. Sullivan walked past him. _

_"Sullivan!" He called out as he stood up from his bench. Everyone was putting their armor away for the next exercise. Ishi was maintaining his armor so that the cleaners would have less time to work on.. a more considerate gesture. __Sullivan stopped. _

_"Ish, just call me 'Sully'. I've told you a thousand times!" He said, bitterly. _

_"Sorry, Sully." Ishi said, standing up and putting his helmet on the bench. He walked forward and went close to him. He put a hand on Sully's back as they walked to a corner. _

_"Did you do that favor I asked you to do? Any new information I should know?" Ishi asked softly. Sullivan shook his head. _

_"Sorry man, I looked through whatever I could that didn't look like it would be flagged. No 'mass relays' or that type of shit, anyhow." Sully replied. Ishi sighed angrilly and pounded the wall. Damn it! How the hell was that possible?! They couldn't have just gone up and dissappeared! He froze when he saw people looking at him. He looked back at them. _

_"What?" He asked. They looked away. _

_"What about that other favor I had you look for?" Ishi asked, _

_"Nope. Nothing. No ancient alien artifacts other than that shit on... Jericho, I think." Sully said. _

_"That type of object is not the kind that we're looking for," Ishi said. _

_"We? Ishi, you've been asking favors for me for half of the year! And you still don't explain why you want to know this shit! The only weird thing happening is the fact that Harvest went dark and you have been goddamned obsessed with this stuff! What the hell is going on with you?" Sully asked. Ishi sighed. _

_"If I ever told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me, trust me." Ishi said. _

_"Well, why don't you share your theories with Orenski?" Sully asked, crossing his arms. Ishi shook his head. _

_"The woman lost her parents! How the hell do you think she'll feel if I walk up to her and go 'hello, I think that your homeworld got attacked by something big and bad!'. She would have my ass on the line!" Ishi hissed, pointing to himself. _

_"You still act like a conspiracy nut," Sully said, flatly. _

_"Dear exemplars help me!" Ishi sighed. _

_"And there you go with that 'exemplar' stuff! Honestly, what cult are you in?" Sully asked. _

_"Thanks for the help, Sully." Ishi said, walking away angrilly. These people didn't understand. The mass relays had seemingly dissappeared from the galaxy, which was impossible! Unless asteroids hit them or something big knocked them out of the way, they should still be in their original positions. The (Charon) relay was not in its position in the outer human home system. And the Citadel had never been found. It was like they never existed in the first place! What the hell had happened thousands of years ago when his people were extinct! When were the Reapers coming back?_

_Ishi saw Vickers bump into Lasky as he went past him. _

_"You need to quit stepping on our dicks, Lasky." Vickers said. _

_"What is your problem, Vickers?" Ishi asked, bewildered.  
"Vickers is right, Valin." Chen said, walking up to Lasky. _

_"My combat scores suck because of you," He said and then walked away. Ishi sighed, frustratedly. _

_"Vickers is right. He's gone soft. Lasky's an Innie lover." Dima said, a blonde-haired young woman. _

_"That order didn't make any sense," Lasky said, bitterly. _

_"It doesn't have to. You just need to follow it." Dima said. Ishi sighed. He hated this with every fiber of his being and he didn't know why. Lasky should have followed the order but he couldn't help feel that Lasky had been morally correct. _

_Ishi wanted to speak up but didn't. They often dismissed his opinion on this sort of thing as well as call him an 'Innie-lover'. Ishi felt his face redden. Even after several months, most of the team had never really warmed up to him and only a select few listened to him or appeared to care for him. He sighed. _

_'Who would ever believe my opinions?' He thought. _

"Cadet Okagaru-Valin to the Superintendant's office. Cadet Okagaru-Valin to the Superintendant's office!"_ The PA system blared. There was silence, then the squad bay echoed with 'OOOOOOHHHHH'. _

_"Ah, shut up you pack of fruit-eating, shit-throwing simian mother-" Ishi muttered under his breath as he walked away. At least the General was now finally going to see him.  
_

_(Fastforwarding to a more recent memory) _

_XXX_

_General Black's office held diplomas, pictures, and decorations on the wall. There was even a holoscreen in the far corner. What interested Ishi were the unfamiliar campaign ribbons on the General himself. He had been seen a few times, and when he was, he was often on Hastati Squad's back. Personally, Ishi thought Black often dared Lasky to be like his dead brother, whom was a soldier that was killed on some far-off planet a few years ago. _

_"Cadet Okagaru-Valin, reporting as ordered, sir!" Valin said in a position of attention: eyes forward, hands straight down the seams of his pants and balled into fists. _

_"At ease," General Black said. Valin moved his left foot and put his hands behind his back. He was looking at his screen and looked up. He had short black hair and wore the dark brown or blue uniform of the UNSC. _

_"I've wanted to see you on two occassions... of course, I have heard that you have been very anxious to see me for some time now... three weeks and two days, if I'm not mistaken." Black said as he stood up and walked around the window. _

_"First of all, the reason for this appointment: What's on your mind, son?" He asked, turning around. _

_"Permission to speak freely, sir?" _

_"Granted," _

_"Sir, it's about... it's about Harvest, sir." _

_"What about Harvest? The UNSC lost communications with Harvest a few weeks ago. They sent a battlegroup to investigate but it's probably that the Innies have blown up the communications relay... stupid bastards are just going to have more heat on them." Black said. _

_"With all due respect, sir. I have reason to believe otherwise. One of the reasons why I'm concerned is because my squad leader is from Harvest, sir." _

_"Why didn't you take it up with her, then?" _

_"I wanted to give her some privacy on the matter, sir." Ishi replied. _

_"Well, regardless, you should speak to her about it... however, I'm curious as to why you think otherwise, Cadet." _

_"Sir, contact lost with a colony can mean that there is something out there. My... colony has had experience with this, sir." This brought Black to full interest, he could tell by the eyes. _

_"Is that so?" Black said in a challenging tone. _

_"Yes, sir." Ishi said, firmly. _

_"My colony had... colonies of their own, you would say. A long time ago, we encountered something like this before. At first, it was just ships dissappearing. Then... entire worlds went dark. And whatever attacked them is now attacking my colony's last bastions. " He sighed._

_"I'll be frank, sir. I have reason to believe that this same force attacked Harvest and since we are in close proximity to Harvest, we could be next. I understand that this theory may sound... unbelievable, sir, but it is just my thought on the subject." Ishi said. Black sighed. _

_"I've heard about you, Valin. You protect cadet Lasky... a damned shame about his brother and a damned shame the kid's starting to become an Innie-lover." Black said. _

_"Cadman Lasky, unlike his younger brother, was one of the best damned cadets we had here at this fine Academy." Black added. He shook his head. _

_"Son, you need to stop taking responsibility for Lasky. He'll take care of himself and grow on his own. You need to think for yourself." Black said. _

_"While I appreciate your concern for the safety of our cadets, you should leave that to the faculty and garrison of CAMS, cadet. It may not look like it, but we care deeply about our cadets' physical and mental well-being. Should any attack : domestic, or otherwise, then steps will be taken to protect the cadets." Black said. Ishi opened his mouth to speak but then winced as a sharp pain came through the back of his head. _

_"Are you alright, son?" Black asked, concerned. _

_"Yes, sir... just the usual pain." The pain that comes from my skull being compressed into a smaller shape by this mask! _

_(Fastforwarding to a more recent memory sequence) _

_"Dear sweet Gods!" Ishi said, rubbing the sides of his head in irritation as he walked down the hallway. He had been stuck with this literal migraine for months and not even the damned medicine didn't help for shit! __Ishi looked inside Dima and Sully's room. Sully was on his terminal looking at some videos. _

_"Hey, guys." He said, walking in. _

_"Hey, Valin." Sully said, glancing at him. Ishi looked over Sully's shoulder. What he saw made him raise an eyebrow (or two in this case) and tilt his head. There were what appeared to be images that looked like starting points for clips with the words 'CLASSIFIED' on them. _

_"What the hell are you looking at, Sully?" Ishi asked. _

_"Like what you see?" Sully asked, grinning as he moved a cursor over one of the videos. _

_"I'm piecing this stuff together, found it on an ONI database. I had to make Dima not tell her Mom about this." Of course, her mother is a high-ranking commander in the Navy. _

_"When did you find this?" Ishi asked as the clip played. It appeared to be from some sort of helmet camera that was moving forward with Marines on it. It appeared to be a dimly lit corridor or trench at nighttime on some world. The Marines were running forward with gunshots sounding. _

_"Oh about five days ago," Sully replied. _

_"Dima, can you leave us please?" Ishi asked. Dima raised an eyebrow as she turned from looking at a box. _

_"Why?" _

_"Need to talk to him about something," Ishi looked at Sully who rolled his eyes. When she had left the room, Ishi smacked Sully on the back of the head with all his might. _

_"What the hell?!" Sully yelled, jerking forward and covering the spot where Ishi slapped him. _

_"You look at footage from a helmetcam for five days but it takes months for you to _not_ find any of that shit I asked you for?!" Ishi hissed. _

_"Hey! They didn't have anything you were looking for!" Sully retorted, his face red. _

_"Did you at least look thoroughly, you hacker?" Ishi asked. _

_"Yes! I did! They had... and let me start off:" He counted with his fingers. _

_"No mass relays, no aliens, no ancient alien cities, no ancient alien shit and no weird attacks like the shit you described, except for Harvest and what we're seeing right now." Sully said, pointing a flat hand to the screen. Ishi shook his head. _

_"I swear to the Gods, you're lazy." Ishi said with a flat tone. _

_Chen and Dima peered in. _

_"Hey, is something going on?" _

_"Nope," Sully said, leaning back, feigning a smile with Ishi placing a hand on his shoulder with a tight grip reminding him of his secret wrath. _

_"Nothing bad, just talking." Ishi said. Chen made a 'hmph' sound. _

_"Idiots,' He heard Chen mutter. Ishi sighed. At this school, everyone had a lot of expectations to fill, including himself, he guessed. He could feel their suffering at all this. __Ishi let go of Sully's shoulder. _

_"For God's sake, Valin, the hell's wrong with you? You're uptight these days!" Sully said, rubbing his shoulder. _

_"See if you can find any reports of other contact losses besides Harvest and any attacks besides that shit by tommorow morning's exercise, okay?" Ishi said, walking out the door. _

_"You're not the boss of me!" Sully called. Ishi spun and around and began to run with one of his hands raised. _

_"_OKAY! OKAY!_ I'll do it! Jesus!" Sully cried out, raising his arms in defense. Ishi stopped and smiled. He then nodded and lightly slapped Sully's face. _

_"Good job, Sully. Knew I could count on you. You're helping save a lot of lives, my friend." Ishi said. _

_He then went over to Lasky's room, noticing that Silva went out. She looked like a petite and slender young woman. Ishi personally thought that they had feelings for eachother though they were squadmates. Ishi knocked on the door to see Lasky at his console. Lasky turned around. _

_"Hey," _

_"Hey," _

_Ishi walked in. _

_"Valin, I know you're looking out for me." Lasky said first. _

_"And I appreciate that. But I'm growing up, man. I need to deal with this, myself. But I still appreciate the help." Lasky said. Ishi nodded. _

_"Yes... you have been one of the few that were... open to me." Ishi said, hesitant. _

_"You know, you're a pretty weird guy to hang around," Lasky said, smirking. Ishi shrugged and sighed. _

_"I know.. This is all... pretty much still new to me. This is definitely not like home." Ishi said, honestly. _

_"Yeah..." Lasky said, shaking his head. Ishi looked at Lasky's screen. It showed a tall human in his early twenties with short red hair and a light beard. In one of the clips that he was seeing he wore a bulky, black armor that had the last name 'Lasky' on its chest piece. _

_"What was he like... your brother?" Ishi asked, leaning on the wall. _

_"He was... pretty good, I guess. He did drive Mom crazy a few times, though. But, she was so proud when he decided to become an ODST." He smirked. _

_"I never did tell Mom about his tattoo," He said. _

_"He must have been a very good brother to get along with," _

_"Yeah... he was." Lasky said. He looked up. Ishi yawned. _

_"Well, I'm getting ready to go to bed. See you in the morning. Five bucks says Vickers is going to put his money where his mouth is." Ishi joked. Lasky smirked. _

_"Yeah, see you tommorow, man." Lasky called. _

_(Fastforwarding to a more recent memory) _

_After he had gotten ready for bed, Ishi decided to sleep on the floor. It was less time to get out of bed anyway. At least he could see the stars from his window. He reached over for his cantine. He had bought it with his own allowanceand often filled it with water from the bathrooms. Drinking it helped him sleep. However, he could only think of the events before. Harvest had possibly fallen to the Reapers... the humans didn't have the advanced technology that the Protheans had when the Reapers first appeared. They would be lucky to survive even a year without shields or energy weapons. _

_Ishi sighed as he took a swig of his cantine as he looked up at the tranquil sight of the stars. It almost made him feel that there was no evil, synthetic menace out there... waiting to destroy all organic life. there were a few clouds out tonight, so the view was close to perfect. _

_Ishi was about to take another swig when he noticed something odd. There was a light coming through the clouds like a silver-blue bullet. Funny... it was almost like something was entering the atmosphere and.. his eyes widened next when he saw it exit the clouds and make an arc. He sat up when he saw it slow down and settle in the night sky, imitating the frozen motion of a star. He almost choked on his water._

_"Oh Gods," He breathed as he stood up quickly and went to a drawer to get a notepad and pencil, not caring that it was lights out for the night. He was going to record this time by the Exemplars!_

_Ishi sat down cross-legged and made note of the time. He started to record what he had seen and was observing the false star like a hawk throughout the whole damn night. _

_XXX_

_The next morning_

_The alarms blared and Ishi bolted up with redshot eyes.  
"_WHO?! WHAT!? WHEN?! WHERE?! WHY!?_" He yelled, eyes darting around his quarters. He saw Lasky poke his head in. _

_"Come on, Valin! We need to go!" He yelled. Ishi sighed. Damn it all to hell and back with a fork up the ass! He looked out the window to see the dawn sky. He pointed to the window and shook his head as he wagged his finger._

_"I'll get you, you son of a synthetic bitch. You just wait, I'll be watching. When the time comes, I'ma break your gigantic ass," He said, running out of the room, not caring to put on his socks or white uniform. _

_XXX_

_(Fast forward to a more recent memory) _

_"Valin! Valin!" Ishi struggled to keep his eyes open as his head wobbled back and forth. _

_"Ishi! Wake the hell up!" A smack hit him on the back of the head. He opened his eyes. The mess hall was very lively with sounds of conversation and consumption. The morning sunlight penetrated the windows showing the light-colored glory of the mess hall. Ishi could sense the feelings of gluttonous, angry, hungry, depressed, and happy students. _

_"What?! What?!" He said, looking around the table where his squad sat. Orenski scowled at him. _

_"Cadet Valin, did you get any sleep last night? Or did you go out roaming the halls?" She asked furiously. _

_"Technically speaking, ma'am I was in my room the whole night... my notepad can testify to that." Ishi said, groggilly. Vickers and Lasky sat down at the end of the table.  
"Cadet Vickers," Orenski said. Vickers's upper body was straight when he replied. _

_"Yes, sir!" _

_"You, Lasky and Valin are the reason why I had to run the tour yesterday with you noobs; and why we had to get up at 0400." Orenski said. Ishi bitterly sighed as he anticipated what was coming next. _

_"Yes, sir!" Vickers said.  
"So as you can imagine, I'm pretty hungry. And I do love this Academy's quiche." Orenski said, looking at all three of them. _

_"Sir," Vickers said. _

_"So, hand them over, all three of you." Orenski ordered. Ishi grunted as he picked up his breakfast tray and handed it to Orenski along with Vickers and Lasky. They stood at attention. Orenski leaned over and spoke harshly at Lasky. _

_"With such a renowned pedigree, I sure expected better for a soldier, Lasky." _

_"Sir," Lasky said. Ishi's fists balled. 'Cold bitch,' He thought. _

_"You're dismissed," She said. The three stepped back and turned around. _

_"Must be tough on your Mom," Vickers said. Ishi glared at Vickers with a 'shut up' look. _

_"Knowing her real son is never coming home." Ishi rolled his eyes when Lasky stopped. _

_'How dare he?!' Ishi thought. His own mother died a long time ago, fighting the Reapers as a fleet commander and now this affluent son of a bitch was talking about someone else's mother?! _

_"Gods damn it, Vickers!" Ishi said as he grabbed Vickers' shoulder and spun him around. Impulsively, he punched Vickers in the face. It had happened so fast. By the time Ishi realized what he had done, it was already too late. _

_"You son of a bitch!" Vickers yelled as he punched. Instinctively, Ishi blocked the punch. He then brought his right leg up to Vickers's crotch while bringing his left leg up and kicking Vickers's left leg, making Vickers go onto his knees. Vickers tried to punch again, but Ishi grabbed his hand and punched Vickers repeatedly in the face and then kicked him in the stomach. Vickers fell, clutching his nose. _

_"Next time you talk about someone's mother," Ishi said and stepped on Vickers's stomach. _

_"Remember this... got it, Vickers?" _

_Vickers groaned. Ishi pressed on his stomach. _

_"What was that, Vicky?" Ishi asked, leaning forward and cupping his ear. _

_"Yes..." _

_"Yes, what?" _

_"Yes, sir."  
"Good," Ishi nodded and stepped back. He turned around to see everyone stare at Vickers and him. _

_"Jesus, Valin!" Sully whispered. _

_"No one messes with my friends... _noone_." Ishi said, looking around. _

_"And no _shithead_ talks about mothers that way!" He added. _

_"Officer on deck!" Dima shouted. They all stood at attention. _

_"Cadet Valin... about face." He heard a familiar voice. Oh crap. Ishi winced and then made an emotionless face when he did an about face to look at one of the instructor's: Colonel McHafferty. She was a woman that was a bit taller than him and had black hair that was wrapped in a bun. And boy, did she look furious. _

_"Outside. Now." She said, furiously. _

_"Yes, Ma'am." Ishi said and walked with her, briefly glaring at Vickers who stood up shakily. He mouthed 'I'll be watching you,'. _

_When they reached a hallway outside of the mess hall. She turned around. _

_"What were you thinking?!" She hissed. Ishi sighed. _

_"He made a comment about Lasky's mother, ma'am. It reminded me of my own mother." _

_"That was Lasky's problem, not yours!" _

_"It..." He started to say and shook his head. _

_"You're angry about something, Valin... I can tell. We all can. What are you so angry about?" She asked. _

_"Speak freely," She ordered_

_"Everything about my life so far, ma'am." Ishi bitterly responded as he shook his head. _

_"I wake up every morning reminded:" He counted it off with his fingers. _

_"that my mother is gone... killed by the enemy! that I came here with no knowledge of how the heck I even got enrolled in the Academy! My head feels like it's about to burst literally! And the fact that the same things that attacked my people are coming here!" He pointed down to the ground and looked at her furiously. _

_"Every single day! Ever since I came here! Ever since Harvest!" He said. _

_"And you feel like you're responsible for all of it?" _

_"I'm the only one that may know what's coming,"  
"Valin... you're not responsible for this... only your actions." Mchafferty said. Ishi shook his head. _

_"You don't understand... this has _them_ written all over it! I'm sure!" _

_"And who is 'them'? Valin? You need to open up more. I am aware that you are asking a student for favors on any strange report." Mchafferty said. _

_"You wouldn't believe me... noone would if I told you." Ishi said, honestly. _

_"Just tell me, I'm listening." Mchafferty crossed her arms. Ishi sighed as he scratched the back of his head. He winced as the pain throbbed again. _

_"My people call them 'Reapers'. They came from darkspace a long time ago. Noone knows who or what made them... only that they are the most feared and devastating monsters in the galaxy." Ishi said. _

_"They attacked my people years ago... attacking our colonies. Every day more of us died and more worlds burned to the ground, their populations destroyed or worse: enslaved. For not even the dead were free from their grasp." Ishi said, remembering the stories that he had learned and felt. Red hot anger flooded him as he spoke next. _

_"World by world, system by system, we fought them, blood for blood. But still, they came." Ishi shook his head. _

_"I grew up on Paradise Prime... one of the few worlds left in my peoples' grasp." He scoffed. _

_"It's funny how one moment, I'm in my room; the next I'm on some unknown planet and everything I've known... everything that I cared about... just... gone. It's all dissappeared like it never existed." He shook his head. Mchafferty looked like she was sweating. _

_"They need to fix the air conditioning in here," She said, tugging at her collar. _

_"You sound like a very protective young man, Valin. You're a guardian, Valin. We all can see it." _

_Ishi sighed at this. _

_"I've seen footage of you during several exercises. You're like a hunter out there... _

_"Some days... I don't think I'm human, ma'am." Ishi said, wanting to explain about how he could sense the genetic markers. _

_"Of course you're human, Valin. You feel for your teammates." Mchafferty said, sympathetically. 'Perhaps, it's something that all species have in common: compassion for one another? Save for the machines.' Ishi thought. He could sense a lifetime of experience and wariness. She was a guiding force in this Academy and almost... motherly. _

_"Another thing I came to see you about is that a package came for you." She said. Ishi raised a package. _

_"A package? Whose it from, ma'am?" _

_XXX_

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_They went into her office. On her wooden desk _

_"This arrived for you last night," Mchafferty said, going to the desk's drawers. Ishi walked up to the desk. It was a large, long, brown cardboard box. The label on it said: _

_Ishigurama Okagaru-Valin_

_Corbin Academy of Military Sciences_

_"There's no return address," Ishi announced. _

_"We had our EOD technicians look at it. It doesn't look like anything explosive is in there, but we're hoping it's nothing... lethal." Mchafferty said, producing a letter opener. She gave it to Ishi who took it reluctantly. _

_"If this is a prank... is it legal for me to sue?" Ishi asked. _

_"Let the Academy handle it," Mchafferty replied. Ishi bent over the box and cut the tape quickly, not caring if it would be a bomb or not. When he opened the lid, he saw little white, styrofoam balls. He reached in there and felt something metal... two metallic objects. He had a good grip and pulled them out. _

_Ishi deadpanned. _

_"What the hell are these supposed to be?!" Ishi exclaimed. They were bulky and silver-gray in color. They had white orbs int eh palms. They looked like a pair of gauntlets and had swirling blue tattoos on them. He set them on the table. _

_He reached further into the box and felt leather slings. He pulled them out and sat that there were two curved swords that were sheathed. Ishi set them both on the table and took one of them out. With the sword in hand, he looked at Mchafferty who nodded. He unsheathed the sword and looked at the blade. It was a finely crafted sword with blue swirling tattoos. The thing was five feet long! _

_"What is this?" _

_"That's a katana... used by Japanese warriors and assassins back in the Feudal Age on Earth. Looks like someone wants you to have them." Mchafferty commented. _

_"Of course, you can't use them here. You'll be given these once you graduate... provided you don't slice someone with those." _

_"I know the way of the sword. I used to train with my uncle with swords." Ishi said, sheathing it. _

_"Finely crafted, but strange." Ishi said. He reached into the box and found a note. _

_He blinked. It was in Prothean! _

_'These were used by your father before you. Now, they are given to you. Use them wisely,_

_-a friend of your family'_

_"What does it say?" _

_"These now belong to me," Ishi said, putting the note down. _


	7. Coming Darkness

_(Ishi's POV)_

_The swords and the gauntlets were now in the armory, which Ishi had to promise that he would never take the swords out unless it was an emergency, he graduated, or he was expelled. The rest of the day had been about lessons and physical exercises. One of the lessons that they were going to practice for the final exercise of this term was the encirclement tactic. It reminded him of the tactics his primitive ancestors used to hunt their enemies or their prey._

_The trick was that you lured the enemy in and then encircled the enemy, no matter the numerical superiority. It was... a bit unconventional for Ishi as the Prothean military operated on one doctrine, one strategy: mass attrition. You would use wave upon waves of soldiers to crush the enemy with the hammer of the empire. Unfortunately, it was the lack of diversity among the Empire, political and otherwise, but not racial, that led to its decline. Perhaps human history would help the Empire a bit._

_For the humans in this era, the use of this tactic was applied by dropping in ODSTs behind the enemy, surrounding them and then closing in for the kill. Unfortunately, this tactic might not work against the Reapers. They would blow any and everything from the sky._

_For this exercise, Ishi had an idea. Often in the exercises, his methods were a bit.. unorthodox. He would sometimes take his helmet off when noone was watching and let whatever fool came his way think that he was in one position, when he was in fact in the bushes, or behind a tree. It had helped during his hunting expeditions with Uncle Javik and Mom, except they had bait. So... possibly Lasky would have the same idea, he figured._

_He walked into Lasky's room close to bed-time._

_"Hey, Lasky." He said. Lasky turned around from his console._

_"Hey... you shouldn't have done that, Valin. I could have handled it." Lasky said, directly._

_"Well, Vickers did talk about mothers. And that didn't sit well with me as my mother is dead. Still, it felt refreshing." Ishi said. Lasky was about to open his mouth but then thought about it._

_"Yeah... it would feel good to give him a run for his money." Lasky agreed._

_"So, I want to talk to you about tommorow's exercise." Ishi said._

_" Shouldn't you be talking to Orenski about this?"_

_"Well, someone's going to lead the squad tommorow, but not Orenski, right? She's usually on the other team." Ishi said._

_"True, I plan on leading the squad."_

_"That sounds good," Ishi commented._

_"So, I was wondering if I could scout ahead and maybe pick a few off for you guys." Ishi declared. Lasky tilted his head._  
_"They're going to track you," Lasky warned_

_"Not if I have my helmet on," The helmets, everyone knew, had trackers on them. Lasky grinned._  
_"Nice... but how are we going to know if the way's clear?" Lasky asked, his grin fading._

_"I can imitate a few animal sounds should you wish it. Need I do an owl hoot?" Ishi joked._

_"You know, that gives me an idea, Ishi." Lasky said._

_"Let's hear it," Ishi said, leaning forward and both of them grinned as they went over tommorow's plan._

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory)_

_Ishi was in his body suit with the rest of Hastati squad in the squad bay. They all stood at attention. Orenski, whom was not in her body suit, spoke to the rest of the squad. General Black was also there, watching it all. _

_"Today's mission is capture the flag. I expect a better outcome than last time." _

_"Permission to speak, sir." Lasky said. _

_ORenski walked over to Lasky.  
"Granted," Orenski said. _

_"Permission to take point, sir." Lasky said. _

_"Okay, Lasky. Let's see if you still have it in you." Ishi heard Orenski say. Ishi suppressed a smile. Everything was according to plan. They'd counted on Orenski's decision and they'd succeeded. _

_Ishi heard Orenski hiss. _

_"But for your sake, you'd better pull some magic out of your ass, so you'll be running tour for the rest of the year." _

_"Understood, sir." Lasky replied. _

_Soon after that, they were dismissed. As they went to their cryotubes that were shaped like ODST drop pods, Ishi met up with Lasky. _

_"Hey, Lasky." _

_"Yeah, Valin?" Lasky said. _

_"Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be a great leader."  
"I'm sure that you'll be a great scout, Valin. Just be careful out there." He said. Before he could step in the pod, Ishi stopped him. _

_Ishi made a concerned face as he thought about Lasky's coughing. _

_"You feel sick during the exercise, tell me, alright? I'll see if I can get you to a medic in time, okay?" _

_"No promises, Valin. But, thanks for the gesture. Now, get in your pod. That's an order, soldier." Lasky said. Ishi smiled as he saluted. _

_"Sir," He said. He then went into his pod. _

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_After they had exited their pods and suited up, they all went outside to the RV point. That was where their blue flag stood. So far, Nova team hadn't been spotted yet. They arrived with their rifles raised. They waited for Nova to show up, but they never came. _

_"It's only been nine minutes," Lasky said. Vickers dropped his rifle.  
"Dead-locked terrain," He reported. _

_"What's your plan?" Silva asked. Ishi began to slowly and stealthily step back away from the clustered group of the squad and carefully took his helmet off as Lasky spoke.  
"We're waiting," He then proceeded to look at Ishi with a grin and winked. Ishi winked back stuck a pasted note onto his helmet. _

_'Will hoot like an owl when the enemy comes, will hoot 2x when the way is clear. Happy hunting!' _

_Ishi then proceeded to crawl around the group and then went into the brushes. He then crawled behind a bush and went underneath it, watching for any sign of Nova team. His fifeteen minutes of waiting and boredom finally paid off when he heard footsteps coming up the path and were walking towards him. He tensed. Ishi heard the chatter between them as they walked up with their rifles raised. When they had passed him, he smiled. _

_'Time for Plan A'. _

_He hooted like an owl. _

_"What was that?" Someone asked and he froze. 'Shit!' _

_"Nothing... probably just an animal." _

_"I swear, I thought I heard an owl!" _

_"Aren't they nocturnal?" _

_"Meh, there are owls who live in the daytime, idiot." _

_They walked off. Ishi silently chuckled and waited for the signal: gunfire. _

_Ishi heard it about five minutes later and slowly got out of his hiding place and went to a crouch. He took out his cantine and poured water over his hands, cleansing them of the residue. He then proceeded with his part of the plan and quickly walked up ahead. _

_Quietly, he listened for signs of talking and the guards up ahead. More would be coming. Better to gain a vantage point. It was hard enough on the ground. He slung his rifle onto his back and climbed up a tree quickly. He would often do that back home, having experience with this sort of thing. _

_He tested one of the branches and smiled when he found it steady. He unslung his rifle and looked around for targets, keeping a steady stance. He grinned when he spotted an unsuspecting target... or a few. He aimed with his best accuracy and fired three shots at each target.  
"WHAT THE-?!" Someone yelled. He grinned as he ran and jumped to another branch of a neighboring tree, catching it in his grasp. The branch snapped much to his dismay and he landed on his ass. He fired at a Nova squadmate as he fell. He sensed another one behind him and he spun-kicked him. _

_When he stood up, he fired at the Nova cadet point-blank in the chest. He then moved forward towards where the flag should have been. Behind him, there were more gunshots and shouting. The rest of Hastati squad was on the way. _

_'AXIOS!" Ishi called out as he aimed and fired at one more Nova cadet, and another, and another. He ran to where the flag was, which it was. It was crimson red, unlike its blue twin. He hooted twice when no more Nova cadets popped up. Ishi turned around to see Silva and Lasky running up to meet him with Silva covering Lasky. _

_"Why the hell didn't you get the flag, you idiot?!" Lasky yelled as he ran. _

_"Hey! You're the point man, you take it back! We'll cover you!" Ishi said, about to turn around when Lasky suddenly went to his knees and fell over face forward. _

_"LASKY!" Ishi yelled in shock, he raised his rifle and fired ahead, hoping to get whatever may have shot him in the back. Ishi looked down, there was nothing red on him. What the hell? _

_"Silva! Get the flag and take it back to our RV!" Ishi ordered. He turned Lasky over. He was unconcious, but breathing when Ishi checked him. Silva looked over his shoulder.  
"He passed out... what caused it?!" He muttered. He carried Lasky with his bare hands... he was a heavy kid. Silva took the flag and they ran back to the RV. Silva planted the flag next to the Hastati flag. But, it didn't feel right to Ishi, not when a friend was out cold for no reason. _

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_Ishi wore his cadet's uniform as he waited right outside the infirmary. He crossed his arms until Dr. Hughes came out of the office. _

_"Dr. Hughes," Ishi said. Dr. Hughes was a tall, dark-brown skinned human with a bald head. He looked middle-aged. _

_"Cadet Valin, what are you doing here?" _

_"Checking on Lasky's status, sir. How is he?" Ishi asked. _

_"He'll be fine. He just woke up." _

_"What happened to him?" _

_"Basically, he has an allergic reaction to a chemical that we inject for cryostasis. He needs to take it easy for the rest of the day." _

_"I can escort him back to his room, if you wish, sir." Ishi said. _

_"That won't be neccessary, Cadet Valin." Dr. Hughes said and he stepped out of the way. Lasky walked out of the office. _

_"Hey, Ishi." Lasky said.  
"Hey, Tom." Ishi said. _

_"How you feeling, man?" Ishi asked. _

_"Chest burns like hell, but other than that, I'm alright." Lasky replied, rubbing his chest. Ishi nodded. _

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_Ishi sat in his room as he looked at his notepad. So far, his notes revealed that for the past two nights, a blue light had been coming down from the sky and remained stationary for a few hours before going back up into the sky. The second night had given him some sleep as he watched it for about three hours and then slept when the light disappeared. _

_Ishi took notes as he looked at them. From what he had learned of the Reaper invasion pattern, this didn't fall in with their usual tactics. They would usually come in force, cut off all communication, attack every single major population center and land, devastating any military unit within radius. The cybernetically enhanced undead would follow their masters' landings. And those they killed would probably come back to life and fight for the enemy. _

_There was a knock on Ishi's door. He looked up. Orenski was there. He stood up at attention. _

_"Ma'am," _

_"Valin, at ease." Orenski said, walking in. She wore the formal cadet uniform. _

_"Yes, ma'am." Ishi said. He sat back down.  
"I came here to check up on you, Valin." She said. Her eyes went to Ishi's notepad. _

_"What's that?" She asked. Ishi handed the notepad to her. _

_"My notes on the past two nights," He said, glancing outside the window.  
"Why were you up for the past two nights?" Orenski asked. _

_"I... I was concerned that it was related to what happened to your homeworld, ma'am." Ishi said. _

_"What about my homeworld?" Orenski asked, concerned. Ishi sighed. _

_"You wouldn't believe my theories, ma'am." _

_"I've been notified by Colonel Mchafferty that you have some deep concerns as of late. She suggested I talk to you about it. You've been tense for the past few months and have become... peculiar in terms of conduct. So, you tell me what you think. It's my job to care for my squad's well-being, Valin. So open up." Orenski said. _

_"There are far worse things out in space than Insurrectionists. My people have encountered them... many times. I've seen their pattern before, heard the stories. Hell, I even know people who have been through them."  
"And 'these' are?" Orenski asked. _

_"We call them 'Reapers'." Ishi said after hesitating. He sighed. _

_"When I heard about Harvest, I thought that they had... come away from their usual hunting grounds." _

_"Wait... they're aliens?" Orenski asked. _

_"Yes... yes, they are." _

_"Why would they attack us? What did we do to them? I've never heard of this before." Orenski said, skeptically. _

_"It's... a remote colonial problem," Ishi lied.  
"So, you're saying that aliens attacked my homeplanet?" _

_"As well as the colonies of my people,"  
"Your people? You mean your planet had colonies of its own?" Orenski asked. Ishi nodded. _

_"Yes, we did for a time. Until the Reapers came." Ishi said. _

_"Their usual pattern is to-" He was cut off when Sully's image appeared on Ishi's console. _

_"Ishi, Orenski." He said. _

_"Hey, Sully. What's up?" Ishi asked. _

_"You two need to come in here and see this," Sully said. His image flickered off. Ishi had a distinct gut feeling about this. _

_"Let's go see what Sully wants us to see. Better not be anything bad." Orenski muttered. They left Ishi's room and walked into Sully's room where the rest of Hastati squad gathered. _

_Ishi turned to Vickers who was next to him. _

_"Hey, Vickers." Vickers turned to him. _

_"Sorry about the fight yesterday." Ishi said, extending his hand. Vickers shook it. _

_"No problem, man. You throw some hard punches." He said, nodding. _

_"For a conspiracy nut," He grinned. Ishi rolled his eyes. Lasky and Silva walked in behind him.  
_

_"You look like crap," Vickers commented. Vickers then nodded respectfully to Lasky. Ishi smiled. Glad someone was getting respect. _

_"So, feast your eyes on grade-A, classified Naval Intelligence elicited vids pieced together," Sully announced. _

_"Super pain-in-the-ass to do, but so worth it," Sully grinned as he pressed a button. Ishi recognized the clip as something that Sully had been doing for the past few days. _

_The video showed from a helmet's point of view. The sounds of strange gun-fire like needles or something being discharged and gunshots. There were screams on the camera as a deep, almost robotic voice said. _

_"Squad, move." The figure from whom the camera was installed on moved through a squad of UNSC Marines or soldiers in some kind of trench or alley in the night. Flash-lights were being used. Gunfire from possibly the current figure, flashed. Ishi felt a pit in his stomach grow.  
_

_"This is beyond top secret," Dima said. _

_"I've never seen anything encrypted so hard, but... wow" As Sully spoke, Ishi saw Marines peering from a corner fire at something. There was rubble up ahead as the figure raised his or her pistol. Something about a 'target' was said on the COM channel. _

_One of the Marines on-screen opened fire from a corner as the sounds of the strange gunfire continued. Ishi then realized that they were walking through some kind of hallway that was busted. As the person stepped through, there was a bunch of rubble and someone behind it. It appeared to be a bald human. _

_"Target: located." The voice said as the figure walked over to the crouching man. He appeared to be covered with dirt and looked pretty worn. A hand reached up that was bigger than any hand that Ishi had ever seen. It was covered with green armor and had a black glove underneath the plating. _

_"Watch this, look at the hand." _

_"Target acquired," The voice said as the hand grabbed the struggling man by the neck who was screaming. _

_"No! They're coming!" Ishi's eyes widened. _

_"The Reapers..." He whispered, horrified. _

_"They're coming!" The man screamed. The figure turned his head to see another man with a close-cropped haircut raise his hands in horrified surrender with a pistol in one hand. _

_"This thing is like two feet taller than a Marine," Sully or Cheng commented. _

_"Pretty crazy, huh?" Dima asked. _

_The man onscreen turned around and then fired at something. Out of the darkness, unarmed civilians came running out, screaming with dirty clothes on. Were these the Insurrectionists that he had heard so much about? Dirty rebels that had smart tactics but ill-equipped? _

_"Squad: encountered unknown hostile!" The voice said. Then, the man fired and the figure drew a pistol, firing into the blackness. _

_"Fall back! Fall back!" He said, quickly. _

_"Now, who do you think they're fighting?" Sully asked. _

_"Reapers... has to be them." Ishi commented impulsively as he leaned forward. _

_"What the hell are 'Reapers'?" Lasky asked. _

_"Are they fighting together?" Silva asked. Someone was thrown. One of the Marines onscreen fired and then ran behind a corner. _

_"Watch-watch this, this is the best part." Sully said, excited. The camera turned to the right and faced something. There was a tall green-armored figure with a polarized visor and a green helmet. An image was imprinted on the helmet, like a reflection of something. The number '104' was on its left shoulder pad. The giant human soldier carried an MA5B rifle, but it looked somewhat smaller. Not only that, but there was some sort of bill-peak from the helmet. _

_"Now what do you think that is?" Sully asked, turning around. Ishi concentrated on the visor. His eyes widened. It really was a reflection off of the giant's visor! Holy shit! _

_"Oh my Gods..." Ishi whispered as the pain in the back of his head throbbed again. He shivered as he saw what was on the visor.  
_

_"Valin? You okay? You look pale?" Orenski asked. Ishi didn't reply until the PA system announced it was time for dinner. Ishi struggled to turn away from the image. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it was something wielding a double-bladed sword that was made from energy. He had never heard of such a thing or seen such a creature. The question was: Was it a Reaper-induced creation? Or was it something else? _

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_The squad was at their lunch table. They talked as they ate tonight's dinner. Outside, it was becoming dusk upon this world. _

_"So, what do you think that thing was?" Sully asked. _

_"Definitely, not an ODST." Cheng said. From what Ishi saw and could remember, it looked like a retrieval operation gone wrong. That team of possible giants and UNSC Marines had been ordered to retrieve a group of the human rebels and ran into something. Possibly, he thought, it was the Reapers... but this didn't look like the usual Reaper signature. Since when did Reaper creations use swords? Something didn't add up. _

_"Maybe it's some kind of upgraded ODST armor?" Someone suggested. _

_"Did you see the size of that thing? It's not an ODST." Cheng replied.  
"What's a Reaper?" Lasky asked. Ishi came out of his thoughts as everyone looked at him. _

_"Yeah, Ishi. You whispered that when we were watching the clip. Was that the thing?" Sully asked. Ishi glared at him. _

_"Hell no!" He said, shaking his head. _

_"Reapers are things you don't want to ever see in your life. They are monsters from darkspace- the void between galaxies." Ishi explained, looking around the table at everyone's eyes. _

_"Whatever world they touch, that planet's population becomes besieged. Those that they kill planetside or capture become their nightmarish-servants. Not even death can save them." Ishi said, remembering all the lessons he had learned of the Great Enemy. _

_"So, they make zombies?" Sully asked. _

_"There are some things that are incomprehensible, Sully. I don't know how that happens, and I don't want to know. But those things have been attacking my people for generations. God help us if that's what we just saw attack those humans on the clip." Ishi said. _

_"What do Reapers look like?" Silva asked. _

_"Oh come on, Ishi's probably making it up." Cheng said. Ishi stared in disbelief at Cheng. _

_"How in the Gods' names do you make up trillions of dead beings?! How do you explain Harvest? Trebia? And countless other worlds that are now husks thanks to the machines?!" Ishi said, his voice rising. He leaned forward as he glared at Cheng. _

_"You think it's a joke? My mother was killed by them! My uncle lost his entire crew to them!" He said, pointing out the window. _

_"Ishi, calm down!" Lasky said, raising his hands. _

_"Calm down?!" Ishi exclaimed. _

_"How can I calm down when the enemies of my people are probably going on an onslaught!" He felt a slap on the back of the head. _

_He paused. _

_"Thank you, Sully." Ishi said, flatly. _

_"You're welcome," Sully said, cheerfully. _

_"Well, how are you so sure that it's these 'Reapers'?" Silva asked, skeptically. Ishi thought before replying. _

_"Well... a world that's lost contact with the galaxy is a kind of their signature move. But... another thing that I find strange is no indoctrination." Ishi said, thinking hard on the issue. _

_"What's 'indoctrination'?" Lasky asked. _

_"It means that the Reapers brainwash you into serving their every need and want. The minds of their servants degrade over time. I didn't see any of that in the clip." _

_"What matters is that our soldiers were fighting alongside Insurrectionists... why would they do that?" Silva asked. There was silence until Ishi had an idea for the answer but was cut off when Dr. Hughes arrived at their table. _

_"Lasky," _

_Lasky looked up to see him. _

_"Colonel Mchafferty is in her office. She wants to see you." Hughes said. Lasky stood up and walked away with Ishi raising an eyebrow. What was that about?  
"Well, they do say that 'war makes strange bedfellows' or something like that." Ishi said. _

_"But against what?" _

_"Perhaps something that is not... of either side." Ishi said, crossing his arms. _

_"You know what, Valin? You're crazy. I swear to God, you are." Cheng said, pointing a fork. Ishi looked at him. That's it! _

_"You wanna' hear a secret, Cheng? I'm not human, you fucker!" Ishi pounded the table, red hot anger flooding him. _

_Cheng scoffed. _

_"What proof do you have, Valin? You a little green man?" He grinned, slyly. _

_"Cheng! Shut up!" Silva said. _

_"You know what? Here's your proof! Let me prove it to you, you hairy, fruit-eating, simian son of a bitch!" Ishi hissed as he grabbed a knife and prepared to jab it in the palm of his hand. Cheng, Silva, Orenski, Vickers, and Sully looked at him with wide eyes. _

_"Oh shit!" Vickers yelled, grabbing him before Ishi could even get the end across his palm. Cheng pushed the plates away and food spilled all over as cadets tried to stop him from cutting himself. Orenski snatched the knife away from him while Vickers and Sully grabbed him by the arms and feigned carrying him. Ishi looked down to see ketchup stains on him as well as wet shirt and pants. _

_"Come on, Valin. Let's get you cleaned up." Sully said. They half-dragged, half-carried Ishi to the bathroom, with Ishi going along with it, reluctantly. When they were inside and no one was around, Sully pushed Ishi away. _

_"What the hell is wrong with you, Valin?! Are you crazy?!" Sully yelled. _

_"Does it look like I'm crazy?" Ishi asked. _

_"Yeah! You just tried to stab yourself, plus you keep thinking monsters are going to attack us all!" _

_"But they are going to attack us! They attacked my people!" _

_"What the hell is this 'my people' shit, Ishi?" Sully asked. Vickers simply watched. _

_"It's true... I'm not human. I swear to the Gods, I'm telling the truth!" Ishi said. _

_"That's a load of bullshit, Valin." Vickers said. _

_"I'm not lying! The Reapers were real!" He paused. _

_"Well, they were for me a few months back. Then, all this shit happened!"  
"What do you mean 'all this'?" Sully asked. _

_"I'm saying that everything I asked you for: the mass relays, the Citadel... all those were a part of my daily life! Then, one day I woke up where all that stuff didn't exist!" He sighed. _

_"It's hard to explain it to you," Ishi said, concerned. He walked forward, hands reaching for Sully's face. _

_"I'm not going to hurt you, but I'm trying to explain it all. This might seem.. strange." Sully backed up, eyebrows raised with a strange expression on his face. Vickers stared. _

_"Are you... homosexual?" He asked. Ishi's jaw went agape. _

_"WHAT?! HELL NO!" _

_"Oh... thought you were." Ishi rolled his eyes. _

_"I'm trying to-" The PA System then announced that dinner was over. _

_'Attention all cadets. Dinner is over. Please return to your quarters." _

_"Son of a bitch," Ishi muttered. _

_(Fast forwarding to a more recent memory) _

_"Gah..." Ishi said, rubbing his temples. It was hurting more and more and felt like it would explode any second now. So far, this was a bad day. 'Never, under any circumstances, let some jackass know-it-all get to you.' Ishi thought.  
_

_Ishi went into Sully's room. _

_"Sully, how's it going?" Ishi asked, trying to sound cheerful. Sully was sitting at his console and turned around. _

_"You okay now, Ishi?" Sully asked. Ishi nodded. _

_"Yeah, I am." After Sully had threatened to get Colonel Mchafferty and Dr. Hughes onto him. Ishi reluctantly had to recant everything he said... but not lie. He didn't like lying.  
_

_"Good, good." Sully said. Ishi thought of something. _

_"Hey, remember the end of that clip you showed us?" Ishi asked. Sully nodded. _

_"Think you can play it again? There's something interesting that I think we should see." Ishi said, thinking of the image. If this wasn't a Reaper, then what was it? Perhaps resolving the image could help a little or at least zooming in on it. _

_"Sure," Sully said. He brought it up and then put it at the end where the clip played again. . Ishi turned around to see Lasky with a piece of paper in his hand. _

_"Hey, Tom!" Ishi called. Lasky didn't stop walking and continued to his room.  
_

_'Weird...'Ishi thought. _

_"Here?" Sully asked. Ishi turned back to the screen and nodded. The soldier was there with that image on his visor. _

_"Zoom in on it," Ishi ordered. _

_"I think I see what you're getting at. I've thought about it, too." Sully said. The image, when zoomed in showed it in some sort of battle stance. Ishi pointed to the sword. _

_"Obviously, this looks like something holding a sword. I think that this is some kind of sword, pretty obvious." Ishi said, pointing to the sword. _

_"Yeah,"_

_"But, what is this thing?" _

_"Well, it's certainly not human. I think that these," He gestured to the head of this figure that appeared to have tentacles or... _

_"Mandibles. I think those are mandibles." Ishi said, thinking of the primitive Turian species. This barely looked like a turian, though. Since when did Turian mandibles suddenly almost split off from their cheeks? Where was the bird's crest that was so common amongst their species? And that kind of weapon didn't look like anything based off of element zero technology. So what in the Gods' names was it?  
_

_"How do you know that?" Sully asked, curious. _

_"It's a biological thing, I'm a bit diverse in terms of knowledge." Ishi said, scratching his head. _

_"What are mandibles?" _

_"Mandibles are... basically tentacles around the mouth that sort of functions like the human mouth, but a bit differently in terms of sound and otherwise." Ishi explained.  
_

_"Oh.." Sully said. _

_"Think everyone else should look at this?" _

_"Part of me says 'yes', the other part of me may want to scream and hide in a closet for a week." Ishi joked. _

_"Oh, what? This?" Sully asked, grinning. _

_Ishi sighed. He knew Sully was just being machismo in front of him so that he could feel better. When the bullets started flying, it was usually the 'brave' ones that were cowardly and the 'cowards' that were the brave. _

_"Let's show Lasky," Sully said. _

_"Sure, if he's not busy." Ishi partially agreed. They both went into Lasky's room. Lasky was sitting with a pen in one hand and on the desk was the piece of paper that Ishi saw before. He looked over Lasky's shoulder to see that it was a medical discharge form! His allergy was that severe? _

_"So, Ishi and I were looking at one section of the clip. And Ishi brought something up which we both thought of."Sully said as he brought up the clip and showed Lasky. Lasky stared at it and tilted his head in confusion.  
_

_"I know, right?" Sully said. Lasky stood up without a word and then walked out with his discharge paper. Ishi looked at Sully and shrugged. _

_"I'll go speak with him," Ishi said. He then caught up with Lasky. _

_"It's that bad? Your allergy?" Ishi asked with a whisper. _

_"Yeah... I'm going to talk about it with Tyler." Lasky said. Ishi sighed. _

_"I understand," Ishi said. They stopped and Lasky looked at Ishi surprised. _

_"No, it's not going to be like that!" Lasky said. Ishi smirked as he shook his head. _

_"Whatever, Lasky. Just speak with her, I understand the need for privacy." Ishi said. Lasky nodded. _

_"You're a good friend, Ishi."He slapped his shoulder.  
_

_"Even if you're weird," He added. _

_"You too, Tom." Ishi said. Lasky walked away. _

_"And Tom?" Ishi called. Lasky stopped and turned around. _

_"stay safe out there, alright?" _

_Lasky scoffed. _

_"Oh come on! This is the Academy grounds! We'll be safe here tonight like any other night." _

_"I'm not so sure, man. Back home, my people have a saying: 'keep two eyes out in the night, for dark things come from it upon the unwary'." Ishi said. Lasky walked away. Ishi sighed. He had a growing sick feeling in his stomach. Something was coming... something bad, he could feel it. It was just like waiting for the Reapers to come back home... for the final defense. _

_Now that he was here, he could not help but wonder if any of his kind were still alive. He couldn't help but think of how the last stand of his homeworld stood. Had they all died in a blaze of glory? Or did it end with a whimper?  
_


End file.
